Law 12 Fouls and Misconducts (Ep 15)
Preface notes
- Law 12 Fouls and Misconducts, probably going to be a long one
- Show notes will be on webpage socceraperspectiveforparents.com
- If wanting to follow along go to notes and link will be there so you can go to the Laws of the game
Laws of the game
- Law 12: Fouls and Misconduct
- Foul kicks (Direct, indirect, and Penalty Kicks) can only be given for fouls when ball is in play
- 1) Direct Free Kick
- Given for the following fouls that the ref considers careless, reckless, or using excessive force:
- Charges
- Jumps at
- Kicks or attempts to kick
- Pushes
- Strikes or attempts to strike (including head-butt)
- Tackles or challenges
- Trips or attempts to trip
- If the foul has contact, it is a direct free kick
- When a player shows lack of attention or consideration in challenging or acts without precaution it is considered careless. No sanction is needed
- Reckless is when a player acts with disregard to the danger to, or consequences for, an opponent and must be cautioned
- When the player exceeds necessary use of force and/or endangers the safety of the opponent it is considered excessive force and the player must be sent off
- Any of the following fouls are given direct free kicks
- Handball (except goalie in penalty area)
- Holds an opponent
- Impeded an opponent with contact
- Bites or spits at someone on team lists or a match official
- Throws an object at the ball, an opponent, or a match official, or contacts the ball with a held object.
- Handling the ball
- For hand balls the bottom of the armpit to outside of the arm is the boundary line. So, anything below the line is a handball and everything above the line is not. Not every touch of a hand/arm with the ball is an offense.
- Only an offense when:
- Deliberately touches the ball with hand/arm. (Hand/arm to ball)
- Has made the body unnaturally bigger. Unnaturally bigger is when a person has put the hand/arm in a position that it would not naturally be in in that situation. By having it in that unnatural position they are taking the chance that it could be hit and having the foul called
- Scores in the opponent’s goal:
- Directly from the hand/arm, even if it was an accident, including by the goalie (talking about a goalie that moved into the attack, not the defending goalie)
- Immediately after the ball has touched their hand/arm, even if accidental.
- When not in the penalty area goalies have the same restrictions as any other player. If they handle the ball when they are not supposed to in the penalty area (direct pass back, puts it down and then picks it back up), an indirect free kick is given. If the offense is playing the ball a second time (with or without the hand/arm) after a restart before it touches another player, keeper must be sanctioned if the offense stops a promising attack or denies an opponent or the opposing team a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity.
- Good diagram of what part of arm is and isn’t a hand ball on pg. 99 here
- 2) Indirect free kick
- Indirect free kick is given if:
- Plays in a dangerous manner
- Impedes the progress of an opponent without any contact being made
- Is guilty of dissent, using offensive, insulting, or abusive language and/or action(s) or other verbal offenses
- Prevents the goalie from releasing the ball from the hands or kicks or attempts to kick the ball when the goalie is in the process of releasing it
- Initiates a deliberate trick for the ball to be passed (including from a free kick or goal kick) to the goalie with the head, chest, knee, etc. to circumvent the Law, whether the goalie touches the ball with the hands: the goalie is penalized if responsible for initiating the deliberate trick
- Commits any other offense, not mentioned in the Laws, for which play is stopped to caution or send off a player
- An Indirect free kick is given if the goalie commits any of the following fouls in the penalty area
- With hand/arm controls the ball for more than six second before releasing it
- With hand/arm touches the ball after releasing it and before it has touched another player
- With hand/arm touches the ball, unless the goalie has kicked or attempted to kick the ball to release it into play, after:
- It has been deliberately kicked to the goalie by a team-mate
- Receiving it directly from a throw-in by a team-mate
- A goalie is in control of the ball with the hand(s) when:
- Ball between the hands or between a hand and any surface (ground, body) or by touching it with any part of the hands or arms, except if the ball rebounds from the goalie or the goalie has made a save
- Holding ball in outstretched open hand
- Bouncing it on the ground or throwing it in the air
- Goalie cannot be challenged by an opponent when in control of the ball with the hand(s).
- Playing in a dangerous manner
- Any action that, while trying to play the ball, threatens injury to someone (including the player themselves) and includes preventing a nearby opponent from playing the ball for fear of injury
- Scissors or bicycle kick is permissible provided it is not dangerous to opponent
- Impeding the progress of an opponent without contact
- Means moving into the opponent’s path to obstruct, block, slow down, or force a change of direction when the ball is not within playing distance of either player
- Players have a right to their position on the field: being in the way of an opponent is not the same as moving into the way of an opponent
- Player may shield the ball by taking a position between an opponent and the ball if ball is within playing distance, player may be fairly charged by an opponent
- 3) Disciplinary action
- Ref’s authority starts at pre-match inspection and ends when leaving the field after the match ends. This includes Penalty kicks.
- The ref has the authority to prevent anyone that committed a sending off offense before this time from entering the field at the start of the match. This applies to both players and team officials. The ref will report any other misconduct.
- Whether on or off the field a player or team official that commits a cautionable or sending off offense will be disciplined according to the offense
- Yellow card is a caution and red card is a sending off
- Only a player, sub, subbed player, or team official are shown cards
- Delaying the restart of play to show a card
- If ref has decided to show a yellow or red card, play has must not resume until the card has been given. If team taking the kick takes a quick free kick, has a clear goal scoring opportunity, and the ref has not started giving the card then the card may be given at the next stoppage. If the foul was denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity, then the offending player is cautioned. If the foul was interfering with or stopping a promising attack, then the offending player is not cautioned.
- Advantage
- If advantage is played and the foul would have gotten a card, then the card must be issued at the next stoppage. If the foul was denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity, then a yellow card/caution is given for unsporting behavior. If the foul interfered with or stopped a promising attack the player is not cautioned/given a yellow card
- When serious foul play, violent conduct or a second cautionable offense (a second yellow card which ends up in a red card or sending off), advantage should not be called unless there is an obvious goal scoring opportunity. When the next stoppage comes up the ref must send off/show the red card to the offending player. If the player plays the ball or challenges/interferes with an opponent, ref will stop play and send the player off. The play will then be restarted with an indirect free kick unless that player commits a more serious offense.
- If defender starts holding attacker outside penalty area and continues into penalty area a penalty kick is given (small rant about things being in weird places)
- Cautionable (yellow card) offenses
- A player is cautioned if they are guilty of:
- Delaying restart of play
- Dissent by word or action
- Entering, re-entering or deliberately leaving the field without ref’s permission
- Failing to respect required distance when play is restarted with drop ball, corner kick, free kick, or throw in
- Persistent offenses (no specific number or pattern of offenses are considered ‘persistent’)
- Unsporting behavior
- Entering referee review area (RRA)
- Excessively using the ‘review’ signal
- A sub or subbed player is cautioned if they are guilty of:
- Delaying restart of play
- Dissent by word or action
- Entering or re-entering the field without ref’s permission
- Unsporting behavior
- Entering ref review area
- Excessively using ‘review’ signal
- When a player commits two separate cautionable (yellow card) offenses both should result in a caution (or card, which would give the player a red card or sending off). Example given Player runs on field without permission and commits reckless tackle or stops a promising attack with a foul or handball.
- Cautions for unsporting behavior
- There are different circumstances when a player must be cautioned for unsporting behavior, including if a player:
- Attempts to deceive the ref (faking injury or pretending to be fouled. Needs to be called wayyyyyy more)
- Swaps with goalie without ref’s permission
- Commits in a reckless manner a direct free kick offense
- Commits any other offense which interferes or stops a promising attack, except where ref awards a penalty kick for an offense which was an attempt to play ball
- Denies an opponent an obvious goal scoring opportunity by an offense which was an attempt to play the ball and the ref awards a penalty kick
- Handles ball to score a goal regardless of if it was successful or not or in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent a goal.
- Makes unauthorized marks on the field
- Plays the ball when leaving the field after being given permission to leave
- Shows a lack of respect for the game
- Initiates a deliberate trick for the ball to be passed (including from a free kick or goal kick) to the goalie with the head, chest, knee, etc. to circumvent the Law, whether the goalie touches the ball with the hands; goalies is cautioned if responsible for initiating the deliberate trick
- Verbally distracts an opponent during play or at a restart
- Celebration of a goal
- Players can celebrate when a goal is scored but it must not be excessive. Choreographed celebrations are not encouraged and cannot waste excessive time.
- Leaving the field during a celebration is not cautionable but players must return as soon as possible
- Player must be cautioned, even if goal disallowed, for:
- Climbing perimeter fence and/or approaching spectators in a manner which causes safety and/or security issues
- Acting in a provocative, derisory, or inflammatory way
- Covering the head or face with a mask or similar item
- Removing shirt or covering the head with shirt
- Delaying the restart of play
- Refs must caution players who delay the restart of play by:
- Appearing to take a throw in but suddenly leaving it to a team mate to take
- Delaying leaving the field when subbed
- Excessively delaying a restart
- Kicking or carrying the ball away, or provoking a confrontation by deliberately touching the ball after the ref has stopped play
- Taking a free kick from the wrong position to force a retake
- Sending off offenses
- A player, sub, or subbed player who commits any of the following offenses is sent off:
- Denying the opposing team, a goal or an obvious goal scoring opportunity by a handball (except for goalie in their penalty area, i.e., goalie making a save)
- Denying a goal or obvious goal scoring opportunity to an opponent whose overall movement is towards the offender’s goal by offense punishable by free kick (unless as outlined below). This is an off the ball foul.
- Serious foul play
- Biting or spitting at someone
- Violent conduct
- Using offensive, insulting, or abusive language and/or action(s)
- Receiving a second caution in the same match
- Entering the video operation room (VOR)
- A player, sub or subbed player that was sent off must leave the vicinity of the field and the technical area (in Law 1.9)
- Denying a goal or an obvious goal scoring opportunity
- When denying a goal or an obvious goal scoring opportunity by a handball the player is sent off where it happened
- When the handball occurs in the penalty area and the player is attempting to play the ball the player is cautioned (yellow carded) and a penalty kick is given. The player is sent off (red carded) in any other circumstance.
- A player, sub, or subbed player that enters the field without ref’s permission and interferes with play or an opponent and denies a goal or an obvious goal scoring opportunity is sent off (red card).
- The following must be considered:
- Distance between offense and goal
- General direction of play
- likelihood of keeping or gaining control of ball
- location and number of defenders
- Serious foul play
- A tackle or challenge that endangers safety of an opponent or uses excessive force or brutality must be sanctioned as serious foul play
- Lunging at an opponent in a challenge for the ball using one or both legs, with excessive force, or endangers the safety of an opponent is serious foul play
- Violent conduct
- When not challenging for the ball, a player that uses or attempts to uses excessive force or brutality against an opponent or against a teammate, team officials, match official, spectator, or any other person, whether contact is made, is violent conduct
- a player who deliberately strikes an opponent or any other person on the head or face with the hand or arm, when not challenging for the ball, is guilty of violent conduct unless the force is negligible
- Team officials
- When an offense occurs and the offender cannot be identified, the senior coach present will receive the sanction (needs to be in the technical area)
- Warning
- Following offenses should usually result in warning: repeated or blatant offenses should result in caution (yellow card) or sending off (red card):
- Entering the field in a respectful/non-confrontational manner
- Failing to cooperate with match officials (ignoring an instruction/request from an assistant ref or fourth official
- minor/low level disagreement (by word or action) with a decision
- occasionally leaving the confines of the technical area without committing another offense
- Caution
- Caution offenses include (but are not limited to):
- Clearly/persistently not respecting the confines of team’s technical area
- Delaying the restart of play by their team
- Deliberately entering the technical area of the opposing team (non-confrontational)
- Dissent by word or action including:
- Throwing/kicking drink bottles or other objects
- Action(s) which show(s) a clear lack of respect for match official ex. sarcastic clapping
- Entering the referee review area
- Excessively/persistently gesturing for a red or yellow card
- Excessively showing the “TV signal” for a VAR ‘review’
- Acting in a provocative or inflammatory manner
- Persistent unacceptable behavior (including repeated warning offenses)
- Showing lack of respect for the game
- Sending off
- Sending off offense include (but are not limited to):
- Delaying the restart of play by the opposing team
- Deliberately leaving the technical area to:
- Show dissent towards a match official
- Act in a provocative or inflammatory manner
- Entering opposing team technical area in an aggressive or confrontational manner
- Deliberately throwing/kicking an object onto the field
- Entering the field to
- Confront a match official (to include half-time and full time)
- Interfere with play, an opposing player, or a match official
- Entering the video operation room
- Physical or aggressive behavior (including spitting or biting) towards an opposing player, sub, team official, match official, spectator, or any other person.
- Receiving a second caution (yellow card) in the same match
- Using offensive, insulting, or abusive language and/or action(s)
- Using unauthorized electronic or communication equipment and/or behaving in an inappropriate manner as the result of using electronic or communication equipment
- Violent conduct
- Offenses where an object (or ball) is thrown
- Ref takes appropriate action:
- Reckless – caution (yellow card) offender for unsporting behavior
- Using excessive force – send off (red card) offender for violent conduct
- 4) Restart of play after fouls and misconducts
- Ball out of play it is restarted with what the previous decisions requires. If ball is in play and player commits a physical offense inside the field against:
- An opponent – indirect or direct free kick or a penalty kick
- A teammate, sub, subbed player, one sent off, team official, or a match official- direct free kick or penalty kick
- Verbal offenses are restarted with an indirect free kick
- If play is stopped for a foul committed by a player against an outside agent (Episode 11, Law 3.7, anyone not named on either team list, most likely a spectator) on the field or outside of it, play is restarted with a drop ball except if a free kick is given for leaving the field without ref’s permission
- If:
- A player commits an offense against a match official or an opposing player, sub, subbed, sent off player, or team official outside the field or
- a sub, subbed, sent off player, or team official commits an offense against, or interferes with, an opposing player or match official outside the field
then play is restarted with a free kick on boundary line nearest to where the offenses/interference occurred; for direct free kick offenses, a penalty kick is given if this is within the offender’s penalty area
- If offense committed outside the field by a player against a player, sub, subbed player, or team official of their own team, play is restarted with an indirect free kick on the boundary line closest to where the offense occurred
- If player contacts the ball with an object held in the hand, play is restarted with a direct free kick (or penalty kick)
- If a player who is on or off the field throws or kicks an object (other than the match ball) at an opposing player or throws or kick an object (including a ball) at an opposing sub, subbed, sent off player, team official, match official, or the match ball, play is restarted with a direct free kick from where the object struck or would have struck the person or the ball. If it is off the field, the free kick is taken on the nearest point on the boundary line. If this is within the penalty area a penalty kick is given.
- If a sub, subbed, sent off player, player temporarily off the field, or team official throw or kicks an object on the field and it interferes with play, an opponent or match official, play is restarted with a direct free kick (or penalty kick) where the object interfered with play or would have struck the opponent, match official or ball.
Things of note
- Show notes are at webpage
- Link will be there as well for Laws of the Game to download
-Got an email up if you have any questions, comments, concerns soccerpodcastforparents@gmail.com
- Next week will be Laws 13 and 14 Free kicks and Penalty Kicks. Only have Laws 13 -17 plus a couple of admins sections at the end I will speed through. All the laws from here go over kicks so may be able to quickly get through them.
- After done with Laws I have the US Youth Soccer Policy that has some of the rules for youth which I may go over quick.
- I am going to have an interview with a good friend of mine that is a soccer ref that does a bunch of youth games so we can talk some about the game.
- Stand by for all that coming up.
Online Sources
- Laws of the Game (ussoccer.com)