Question Number: 15494

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 5/16/2007

RE: College

Mohamed of Beirut, Lebanon asks...

about fouls and misconducts that are commited away from the active site in play(where d ball is). how must the referee interact? does he have 2 interfere immediately(stop the play)? does the position of offense affect decision(penalty area 4 instance)? does a real chance for d opponent affect it? and how the game should be restarted.
i'm in need of an overall dealing with this situation.
10x.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

The referee should deal with any foul that happens. The location of the foul doesn't matter. The ref must determine if the foul was trifling, in which case it wouldn't be called. For example, charging a player away from play is not allowed, but the effect it has may be negligible. If advantage exists, the referee would announce it and allow play to continue. The restart depends on the foul. Was it a penal foul, then DFK. Was it comitted in the fouler's own penalty area, then PK.

The only real difference would be if the player did something desreving to be sent off. If the ball is nearby, it could be for Serious Foul Play. If the incident occurs far from the ball, it is Violent Conduct. Many league rules have higher penalties (fines, lengthy suspensions) for VC than for SFP.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

The referee should be mindful of those events happening elsewhere on the field. He uses his assistants to convey information to him. Should the incident be serious enough for the referee to stop play he must restart at the point of the offence. That means the ball might well move 100M or so.

Ref Voshol mentions if the foul was a trifling thing. As referee you must keep in mind trifling is in the mind of the player it is done to, NOT to the referee. In this case the referee must have an idea of how the players, that match, are reacting to things. This is the reason the referee usually is less forgiving in the first minutes of a match then the last. He is learning from the players what they accept and what they want whistled. The referee, after blowing for foul play, who gets a curious look from a player need only ask him if he wanted that foul or would he rather want to continue play [advantage]. The referee learns from this and so do the other players -- the referee saw and didn't like the play, challenge, whatever, but the ONE player didn't mind YET. Off the ball, the referee might be much less forgiving just to keep a lid on things.

So, the referee should think a foul, for the side with the ball in their opponent's penalty area, happening in the other end of the park, well behind play, might be better off remembered until the next stoppage, then dealt with. He must play advantage, this says he SAW what happened. If he just ignores it, well it didn't happen UNLESS an assistant saw it and brings it to the referees attention at the next stoppage.

Regards,