Question Number: 15518

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 5/18/2007

RE: rec Adult

alex of richmond hill, on canada asks...

What is the correct call if a player trips an opponent which is not careless, reckless, or with excessive force?

Instead you consider the trip as accidental. For example, feet tangling when two players running too close to each other.

Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

Then you call nothing. Law 12 states clear if the referee considers it careless, reckless, or with excessive force.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

When one looks for foul play identified as accidental it can not be found in the Laws of the Game. Stuff sometimes just happens...

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Law 12 clearly states the trip has to be at least careless or no foul.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Alex,
We are to punish the deliberate fouls and to avoid stopping play for doubtful or trivial incidents.
We are not mind readers and many fouls are made with no intent to foul but done in a sincere attempt to try and play the ball.

I step on a player's ankle in pursuit even if by accident it will likely be a foul. I trip over a small divot or catch a puddle and fall catching a player's foot with my head hard to find fault with the pursuit is it now?

However, a trip over untied shoe laces could be thought of as careless if it was in the opinion of the referee preventable? Yet a lace could be broken or caused to come undone on a previous tackle and no fault attributed to the player.

Such is an opinion in whether carelessness by the player was at fault for not tying the laces better or or circumstances of play creating an accident.

No intent to foul could well be in the motivation to win the ball fairly, however, we judge the actions as we see it and can still hold a player's action as careless, reckless or excessive be that foul intentional or not.

Not all accidents are a direct result of a careless action by a player but do not exclude careless just because a player did not mean to foul the opponent! A player can still be held accountable for what he or she does whether or not it was an accident.

In a recent match keeper dove for ball and striker tries to kick /knock the bouncing ball into goal. The striker's forward momentum took him into the diving keeper and striker's knee catches keeper's chin nearly knocking him out. The ball was deflected off the keeper's shoulder to the left side of goal. I blew play dead and awarded a drop ball. Both coaches had the audacity to be mad, one because I gave no foul the other because the ball only needed a slight knock to cross the goal line and he thought I should have waited to see if it did.

As referee I made three decisions on that incident, one: there was no foul it was an unavoidable circumstance where both had equal right to play that ball, two: the injury was a head injury and serious enough to immediately stop play, three: both coaches dissenting confirm I made the right call

If the ball had gone into the goal rather than roll along the goal line to the left I likely would have counted the goal as the time factor of realization of injury and the opportunity to score were not compromised by added play but rather a result of play.

Coaches exhort their players to win the ball through physical play and not back down from an opponent!
Opportunity to play the ball is granted to all players, soccer is a physical game, accidents do occur where no fault is assigned but then some accidents are careless, reckless even excessive if the player plays with no consideration of safety only a fixation to get to the ball no matter what. While we remove intent from the equation of whether there is or is not a foul, to some degree intent does form a part of a decision to see reckless or excessive misconduct.

Let me take you back to the striker keeper collision and consider if the striker had stuck out his foot studs exposed into the face of the keeper that deliberate act to play the ball could change my decision from no foul to an excessive challenge and a send off. Where a collision is eminent how one proceeds plays a part in what a referee sees!