Question Number: 16645

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 9/11/2007

RE: high level competitive Under 18

Phil Ritter of Danville, CA USA asks...

An active discussion has taken place on a local soccer Board recently and I have been in disagreement with a referee who is normally highly repected. I am troubled by the fact that we can't settle this one.

Situation: a team is engaging in an organized attempt to delay restarts. On every restart the ball is kicked away by the opposing team. The referee begins to deal with this by issuing cautions, but his efforts are thwarted by the team's organized efforts. Each time the restart is delayed by a player who has not yet been cautioned, creating a kind of team misconduct.

I am of the opinion there is little the referee can do except to continue cautioning each instance of misconduct. Eventually the team will run out of players who have not previously been cautioned and you can begin sending them off if/when they pick up a second caution.

Respected Referee, however, believes that it is appropriate to caution the "team" for misconduct - that upon recognizing the pattern the next offender is cautioned for delaying the restart and then immediately cautioned again (and sent off) for the team's actions.

I believe that this is incorrect, that you can never punish the same player twice for the same misconduct. I also find the concept of "cautioning the team" unsupported by the LOTG, the ATR, or in the memoranda titled "Cautions and Cautionable Offenses" (2006).

What is your advice?

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

You are correct in your thinking. The respected referee has lost face and grasped at straws in an effort to "look" good. He has made something up and laid it out for all to see his knowledge has limits.

He is right in his thought that the team is at fault for its actions and only one person is guilty of bringing The Game into disrepute. As soon as the referee comes to that conclusion the team's teacher is expelled. This is the opinion of US Soccer when a team, as a whole, is screaming at the taking of a penalty kick so as to interfere with the kicker. In fact the opinion is all eleven players are cautioned and the coach is expelled. Upon repetition the match is abandoned because all players are cautioned again and all are sent off for a second caution in the same match. This effectively prevents them from playing in their next league match and sends a message to those thinking this action is condoned.

In your case, because only the one player is involved at a time, only one is cautioned but the person responsible for the player's education may be dealt with as appropriate to his disregard for the Laws of the Game. Another sanction available is every player nearer than the required distance and not retreating or moving toward the ball is dealt with in accordance with the Law. See ATR 2007 13.3

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Has the team that is doing all the delaying, and receiving all the cautions, been told by the referee that time is being added on? I wonder why a team would continue in these tactics when they knew they were accumulating cards and not shorting the opponents of any playing time. The team can accumulate 1 per player, and then they start getting sent off for second cautions. Do they really want to waste that first caution on a stupid tactic, and risk being sent off when they commit a reckless tackle? or persistently infringe the Laws?

Referees cannot make up their own rules, no matter how good the intentions. We referee to the Laws of the Game, as modified by local rules.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

HUH? What? If I read this correctly we caution show a yellow card to the player and then we show a yellow card again then a red card for the same reason we showed him the first one? This is deemed acceptable because we think the delay of restarts is an orchestrated team tactic? Well if the tactic was coach inspired as a player I would look for a new team to play on. If as a coach I watched a referee proceed in such a manner I would protest a misapplication of law if our team was unfairly dealt with in the manner you described. It is so stupid only a complete moron could conceive of it as useful. I can understand an occasional tactical, ooops better not let them restart or we are dead caught out out and take one for the team. But to stop EVERY restart and look to be cautioned is a red card for those players if any other cautionable action was to occur in the match bloody risky!

Persistent infringement as a tactical ploy of individual players fouling a single opponent allows us to consider a nominal foul as cautionable when perhaps on its own is not. If we see a deliberate take down we can go direct red as excessive if the reckless element is too pronounced to let it slide because it is a deliberate attempt to injure! As an opinion I have that discretion as a referee. Not so in delay of the restart or failure to respect ten yards which are a direct caution show yellow for each occurrence. They do not upgrade to red because each player is an idiot!

Now assuming we have a referee who refuses to allow this tactic to succeed hits the caution show yellow at the first opportunity then in the wall set up guess how far we back them up at least ten, hell, I step off ten paces they will be 12 or 13 maybe even 15 yards. You do not like it then quit jerking me around! 10 yards immediately no delays! Guess what that wall moves an inch towards the free kick before it is taken another caution show yellow then a retake! They move too slowly or dissent boom another yellow then red for two cautions off they go but it is a second event unrelated to the first even if it was a continuation of the delay tactic

When I see a team take liberty with the opponents or the spirit of the match those trivial doubtful things that we might forgo suddenly become unacceptable. As my colleague points out we referee to the Laws of the Game, as modified by local rules and I might add we protect both their safety and the spirit of the game! It is easy to show a card to an obtuse player who wants to butt heads! This Billy goat referee is sure to oblige those who feel the need to test out the theory in no uncertain terms. 10 yards now and no delays!. And no arguments!
cheers