Question Number: 15503

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 5/17/2007

RE: Rec Adult

Steve Cock of Ottawa, Ontario Canada asks...

This question is a follow up to question 15467

In your answers to this question [15467] I think I read between the lines that a striker who retrieves the ball from the net should be yellow carded under advice to US referees, and the striker should leave the job of collecting the ball from the back of the net to the ref or the beaten keeper or maybe one of the defenders. What do other authorities in other countries have as advice to referees on this situation ? How authoritative is the US document .. ie should players in other countries / refrees in other countries also consider that this advice pertains to them, or could it be that another national body may come up with conflicting advice to their refs?
Thanks
Steve

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

The quote regarding provoking a confrontation is directly from the Laws of the Game as issued by FIFA/IFAB. Ref Fleischer just gave the page reference as found in the hardcopy US edition. It appears on page 71 of the online Laws on the FIFA website (36th page of the .pdf).

This provision came into effect on 1 June 2006. Prior to that, the change was tested in one of the Youth World Cups with disastrous results. The words "provoking a confrontation by" were not included in the test - so any player who touched the ball when it was not his restart was cautioned! Much better that the referees are given discretion so that the player who is merely being helpful is not penalized.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

We wrote nothing between the lines, what we wrote is nicely summarised by Ref Voshol.

Regards,