NO CAUTION FOR A TACTICAL FOUL?

Question:
Instruction was given at the Region II youth championships that a referee need no longer caution for a tactical foul if that foul was committed by the defending team, was penal, and was committed within their own penalty area, resulting in a penalty kick. Can you please confirm or deny this instruction/interpretation change. In the past this never mattered; a player who committed a foul which in the opinion of the referee was tactical, and did not meet the 4 D’s requirement of Denying an Obvious Goal Scoring Opportunity, was cautioned and shown the yellow card, regardless of location of that foul or resultant restart.

USSF answer (July 19, 2011):
The instructions you were given at the Region 2 Youth Championships are part of a concept approved by FIFA and the IFAB. This concept does not yet have final approval, but a position paper will be issued in the near future.…

NO PK IF NO OPPORTUNITY TO SCORE?

Question:
Do all penalties within the 18 yard box automatically result in a penalty kick? If I recall during my “ref” days (now retired), penalty kicks occur only if the ref determines the offensive player who was fouled had a clear ability to score a goal. That is, if an incidental hand ball (hand hits ball, not ball hits hand) occurs within the 18 yard box and the ref determines there was no scoring opportunity a free kick at the point of contact (even within the 18 yard box) is award the offensive team. Defensive line must be 10 yards away or as far as possible (even if they must stand on the goal line).

Just want to make sure; I’ve haven’t ref’d for many years and wonder if the laws have changed.

Now a spectator.

USSF answer (July 19, 2011):
What you describe has NEVER been part of the Laws of the Game. We hear of this concept every now and then in various parts of the country and welcome the opportunity to address the matter. Thank you for asking.

All — let us stress it: ALL — direct free kick fouls committed by the defending team in its own penalty area must be punished with a penalty kick, whether or not the player who was fouled had a clear chance to score a goal. Other punishment may also be meted out, but that is outside the parameters of your question.

Accidental (or “incidental”) handling of the ball such as you describe is not a foul of any sort, so should never be punished in any way — although we are aware that some referees do it.

If an indirect free kick offense (foul or misconduct) were to be committed within its penalty area by the defending team, the restart would be an indirect free kick and the defending team would have to remain at least ten yards from the spot of the kick , unless it was within the goal area. Again, other punishment might also be levied, depending on the particular offense and its consequences.…

IMPROPERLY TAKEN PENALTY KICK (UAE VS. LEBANON)–REVISED ANSWER

Question:
In a recent game between UAE and Lebanon there was a penalty kick taken with the back of the heel. The player approaches the ball and without stopping his run-up turns around to knock the ball with his heel.

I realize this is played under a different football association, but in USSF – is this legal? Or would it be considered “Excessively changing directions or taking an excessively long run to the ball (thus causing an unnecessary delay in the restart, in the opinion of the referee)” as in the August 25, 2009 position paper? Specifically excessively changing position. My feeling is that this is unsporting, but I am wondering if that position is the one taken by USSF.

A video of the situation is here.

http://www.yardbarker.com/soccer/articles/msn/the_most_arrogant_penalty_kick_of_all_time/5587765

or

USSF answer (July 19, 2011) REVISED JULY 25, 2011:
No official position on this matter has been taken by either FIFA or the IFAB as of July 25, 2011. Until such time as there is an official position from the IFAB or from FIFA, we will not discuss this matter further.…

LEAVING THE FIELD AT A RESTART

Question:
On a corner kick, player A places ball in the arc. Player B runs out of play and around the goal to the resume position on the back post. Opposing team had players on the post. Corner is crossed in by Player A and scored by Player B who ran out of play. Should Player B be allowed to return to the field since he deliberately ran off the field? Should Player B wait to be signaled back on by the official after the corner was played in? Shouldn’t this be a yellow card?

USSF answer (July 15, 2011):
The Advice to Referees tells us:

3.9 LEAVING THE FIELD IN THE COURSE OF PLAY
Players are normally expected to remain on the field while the ball is in play, leaving only to retrieve a ball or when ordered off by the referee. If a player accidentally passes over one of the boundary lines of the field of play or if a player in possession of or contesting for the ball passes over the touch line or the goal line without the ball to beat an opponent, he or she is not considered to have left the field of play without the permission of the referee. This player does not need the referee’s permission to return to the field.

If the player ran out of the field after the ball was placed and before the kick was taken _and returned only while the ball was in the air_, that player has left the field of play without the referee’s permission. Blow the whistle, cancel the goal, caution the errant player for leaving the field without permission, and restart with an indirect free kick for the defending team from the place where the ball was when play was stopped.…

HOW MANY ANGELS, EPISODE 6,508

Question:
Some folks were having a discussion on exactly what is required for a player to meet the requirement of being “outside of the penalty area” at the moment a PK is taken. Could you please address the following situations in terms of whether they are technical violations of the law and also as to whether they might well be deemed to be trivial by a referee:

1. As the PK is taken, an attacker has a foot on (but not over) the 18-yard line. Other foot is OK.

2. As the shot is taken, an attacker has one foot touching the line and partly over it. Other foot is OK.

3. As the shot is taken, an attacker has one foot behind the line and one foot significantly over it (i.e. closer to the goal line).

4. As the shot is taken, a player has both feet behind the line but is leaning forward so that the upper part of her torso is over the line.

Thanks for your help.

USSF answer (July 15, 2011):
Technical response: The lines are part of the areas they delineate. Ergo, the lines marking the penalty area are part of the penalty area and thus any particle of a foot on or over the line constitutes a breach of the procedure for penalty kicks.

Practical response: Use common sense and punish only that which needs to be punished for the good of the game.…

PLAYER MISSING AT END OF KICKS FROM THE PENALTY MARK

Question:
In the taking of KFTPM to decide a tournament winner the teams make 10 goals each. The 11th player makes a goal but now the opponent’s 11th player is missing.

What should happen now?

USSF answer (July 2, 2011):
Provided the team’s 11th player was on the field at the beginning of the kicks from the penalty mark, this portion of the Advice to Referees applies:

19.2 PLAYERS LEAVING THE FIELD DURING KICKS FROM THE PENALTY MARK
Once the procedure of taking kicks from the penalty mark has begun, players are not permitted to leave the field, even if they have already taken a kick. If a player leaves the field and is not available to take the prescribed kick (either for the first time or subsequently), the referee can declare the missing player no longer eligible and then proceed with the kicks from the penalty mark without him/her. A full report regarding the situation must be submitted.

ENCROACHMENT AT PENALTY KICK; PLAYER RE-ENTERS FIELD

Question:
The Blue goalkeeper and Red player are in position for a PK. After the referee signals, but before the kick is taken, a Red teammate encroaches into the penalty area. The referee allows the kick to be taken. The Blue goalkeeper saves the shot, deflecting the ball to the Red teammate who then kicks it into the goal. What is the restart? Should the PK be retaken and the encroaching Red player cautioned?

Another question:
The referee gives a Blue player permission to leave the field to care of an injury. A Red player heads directly toward the Blue team’s goal with only the Blue goalkeeper between him and the goal. The Blue player reenters the field without the referee’s permission and runs across the Red player’s path causing him to slow down and allowing the Blue goalkeeper collect the ball. What is the misconduct? What discipline should be taken? And what is the restart?

USSF answer (June 25, 2011):
1. As there was no goal from the original kick, the referee stops play and the match is restarted with an indirect free kick to the defending team, from the place where the infringement occurred — that place on the penalty area line where the player entered the penalty area early. See Law 14.

2. First some essential background information: When a player who has been given permission to leave the field returns without permission, the Law requires that the referee (a) stop play (although not immediately if the player does not not interfere with play or if the advantage can be applied) and (b) then caution the player for entering the field of play without permission.

It is not clear to us precisely what happened in this situation, so we will provide two possible scenarios and their solutions:
(a) The Blue player did not impede the Red player and (after entering the field illegally) but did slow him down by running in front of him while Blue was within playing distance of the ball. Referee action: Caution the Blue player for entering the field without permission. Because there was no physical contact and the Blue player did not impede the progress of the Red player, the only other thing to do is to remove the Blue player from the field. If the referee stops play for this, the match is restarted with an indirect free kick, to be taken by a player of the Red team from the position of the ball at the time of the stoppage (see Law 13 – Position of Free Kick).
(b) If the referee is certain that the Blue player impeded the Red ;player, then the Blue player has denied an opponent a goal or an obvious goalscoring opportunity, then the Blue player is sent off and shown the red card. The game is restarted with an indirect free kick for the Red team from the place where the foul occurred (even if it is within the penalty area)…

THE “CONTINUATION PRINCIPLE”

Question:
Can you please clarify Michael Kennedy’s statement made about the “continuation principle” in the Referee Week in review Week 11 2011.

He stated holding was the only foul where the continuation principle can be applied. Can you tell me what the continuation principle is and where it can be found in the ATR, LOTG, or a position paper? A colleague of mine remembers such a paper, but has since seen it disappear.

The only reference I found was this one from 2008 in this forum: http://www.askasoccerreferee.com/?p=306.

I ask because I witnessed a situation where two fouls occurred against an attacker heading toward goal outside the penalty area that were “let go” as the player continued on but a third foul challenge brought the player down in the area. The three happened in a matter of seconds, and certainly in the window of the advantage decision allows for. The referee clearly had decided that the first two he was going to apply advantage or had ruled them trifling, but when the player fell in the area he decided to bring the restart to the spot of the first foul.

The assessor pointed to the above reference about continuation for the reason the restart should be a PK. I disagreed, saying the first two fouls had already occurred and was decided, and the referee should be deciding on the third foul alone, resulting in a PK.

I had never heard of this reference before, and it was only fitting to have Michael mention it this week. Pls advise, with thanks.

USSF answer (June 20, 2011):
We are not quite sure where the confusion arises, but it appears as though two different concepts have been conflated into a single question. First, of course, is the issue of advantage (see Advice to Referees 5.6). When one or more fouls happen in sequence just outside the penalty area and advantage is applied to each of them in turn as they happen, a final foul that happens inside the penalty area might well NOT result in an advantage decision, because the requirements for advantage inside the penalty area have suddenly shifted. In this situation, the moment a discrete foul happens inside the PA, the referee need only decide whether a goal would be scored immediately by the fouled player whereas, for the foul(s) outside the PA, the referee need only decide if the fouled player can continue a credible attack on goal. This is conceptually different from the “continuation concept.”

The IFAB’s Q&A 2006 and the current Law book (p. 110) discuss the “continuation concept” solely in terms of a holding offense. Under guidance from FIFA, we can say that the term must NOT be applied to any other offenses.

When faced with an event on the field that is subsequently determined to be a foul, the referee faces three conceptually separate issues:

1. Use of advantage: If the offense happened outside the penalty area, advantage should be used in order to enable the team of the fouled attacker to maintain a credible attack on goal. If that attack does not continue as a result of subsequent events (ball leaving the field in favor of the opposing team, another foul which requires reopening the analysis, etc.), the referee must return to the original offense, unless the subsequent foul involves a greater penalty. This includes the circumstance where the subsequent offense involves a penalty kick restart.

2.Continuing fouls other than holding: An offense which involves continuous contact (such as charging or pushing) that starts in one place and continues into another place where the consequences of stopping play would be a different restart, should be decided on the basis of which place involved the greater penalty (inside/outside the penalty area is decided in favor of inside the penalty area, inside/outside the field is decided in favor of inside the field).

3. Use of “fouls in motion”: If contact with an opponent occurs outside the penalty area but the consequences of the contact which would enable the referee to conclusively determine that the contact was an offense cannot be seen until the opponent is inside the penalty area, the location of the offense must bet set at where the original contact occurred. Likewise, contact occurring inside the field whose consequences do not become apparent until the opponent is outside the field must result in a decision to restart inside the field where the original contact occurred. These decisions (where the original contact occurred and where the consequences occurred) are based solely on the opinion of the referee.

A position paper, issued in April 2007 and still valid (and on the USSF website), illustrates “fouls in motion.”

Subject: When Fouls Continue!
Date: April 30, 2007

Prompted by several recent situations in professional league play, a discussion has developed regarding the proper action to take when a foul continues over a distance on the field. Many fouls occur with the participants in motion, both the player committing the foul and the opponent being fouled, and it is not unusual for the offense to end far away from where the initial contact occurred.

Usually, the only problem this creates for the referee is the need to decide the proper location for the restart. Occasionally, however, an additional issue is created when the distance covered results in an entirely different area of the field becoming involved. A foul which starts outside the penalty area, for example, might continue into and finally end inside the offending player’s penalty area. Or a foul might start inside the field but, due to momentum, end off the field. In these cases, the decision about where the foul occurred also affects what the correct restart must be.

In general, the referee should determine the location of the foul based on what gives the greater benefit to the player who was fouled. FIFA has specifically endorsed this principle in one of its “Questions and Answers on the Laws of the Game,“ which states that a penalty kick is the correct restart if a player begins holding an opponent outside the player’s penalty area and continues this action inside his penalty area.

PROTOCOL FOR INJURED PLAYER AT PK

Question:
Another question for you posed to me by a referee. I’ve massaged the wording a bit to keep those involved nameless but didn’t make any changes impacting the situation or ensuing decision. Here goes:

At an NCSL U16D2 boys game there was a young referee in the center with two adults as his assistants. One of the assistants was the centers father.

Early on in the 2d half with the score having recently been tied at 1-1, a foul was called resulting in a Penalty Kick restart. Dad thinks it was the correct decision from his view from the half. The defending player committing the foul was hurt. Instead of the coach coming on to the field to aid the injured player, two of his team mates helped him off the field. Before the player was off the field (and the sub on the field), the referee allowed the PK to be taken, which resulted with a goal being scored. Assistant Referee, Dad, raised his flag and called the referee over, advising the referee he should not have allowed the PK to be taken since the substitution hadn’t been completed, and the correct way to restart was to make sure the defending team had 11 players on the field, and to have the PK retaken. After giving this advice consideration, the referee ordered the penalty kick to be retaken which this time was saved. The attacking team was not happy. The defending team went on to win 4-1, the attacking team did not protest. The referee reportedly handled the rest of the game without incident.

Granted, the referee should have done better by ensuring the injured player was properly substituted before signaling for the PK to be taken and this wouldn’t have been an issue. But since the signal to start was given the question is can the referee now change his mind and stop play? Or since the signal was given, play restarted and a goal was scored, should it be allowed to stand? Or, in the interest in Fair Play, did he do the right thing by ordering the PK to be retaken after the injured player was substituted?

My initial thought is haste makes waste and since there didn’t appear to be any infraction related to encroachment or improper player positioning during the taking of the penalty kick, the goal should have been allowed since this wasn’t really a substitution based on the way the situation was described to me. How did I do regarding my take of the situation? You’re never too old to learn.

USSF answer (June 19, 2011):
The failure to allow a substitution is not the problem here. The referee’s error was in allowing the penalty kick to be taken while the injured player and his teammates were otherwise engaged, Although these players could not “defend” against the penalty kick, they had the right to be present on the field in positions permitted by the procedures for a penalty kick. The referee, who allowed the teammates to help the injured player off the field, should have waited for the two teammates to return to those positions.…

RESCIND A GOAL BECAUSE OF LAW 4 VIOLATION? NO!

Question:
A. An illegally-equipped player scores a goal. The illegality is 1. jewelry; 2. no proper shinguards.

B. An improperly-equipped player scores a goal. The improper equipment is 1. proper shinguards worn on the side of or behind the calf rather than the front; 2. undergarments that are a different color from all the other players undergarments.

Obviously, A should be corrected during pregame inspection, but some referees are less diligent. With regards to B, sometimes players move their shinguards to the outside because they’re more worried about challenges from the side rather than straight on. The mis-colored shorts were rolled up during pregame and then fall down during play and are not discovered until after the goal is scored.

The equipment is pointed out before the restart of play. In all cases, does the goal count? Is the player cautioned? If so, how is this misconduct characterized in the report?

USSF answer (June 11, 2011):
The referee and other officials on a game are expected to maintain vigilance at all times for violations of the requirements all the Laws of the Game. In these cases (both of which we sincerely hope are hypothetical), the requirement of Law 5 for a complete inspection of the players prior to the game was not fully met. The requirement for players to wear proper equipment continues throughout the game; it does not stop after the initial pregame look-see.

The purpose of the game is to score goals. In these particular cases, the referee should first be concerned with whether or not the irregular/illegal equipment had an effect on the opposition. In other words, did it lead to the goals? If not, then the referee should allow the goal(s) and punish the infringements of Law 4 with a caution for unsporting behavior.…