Question Number: 17010

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 10/1/2007

RE: Select Under 18

Andrew Manley of Fairfax, va usa asks...

Please explain the what foul is commited in the following scenerio.

An attacking player (in possession of the ball) is knocked to the ground by a defending player. The attacking player ends up on his hands and knees with the ball under his midsection and the defending player is on laying on top of the attacking player. The defending player puts his hands on the back of the attacking player as he stands. It appears the attacking player is unable to stand up because the defending player is pushing down on his back as the defending player stands. Once the defending player stands and kicks at the ball the official signals a direct kick for the defending team.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Firstly how was the one player knocked to the ground? Was it done fairly or not? That settled let's look to preventing movement of an opponent by the laying on of hands; isn't that holding?

Those are the two things I would look for in the scenario you relate. However if something else happened that I saw to give me cause to award the free kick to the defending side I would not hesitate in doing so. Sometimes this is the case and spectators just don't have the correct angle of view to see what I saw.

Regards,