Question:
Question involves procedure for issuing a red card when 2 yellows are given. Incident as follows: a reckless tackle deserving of a caution. As the yellow card is shown, the culprit jumps up, gets in the face of the referee and will not stop criticizing the call. The referee decides this dissent warrants another caution and the subsequent red card. I believe it is USSF policy not to show the second yellow but to go straight to the red. Is this true or do we show the second yellow and then the red?
USSF answer (June 24, 2009):
Correct procedure is to show the second yellow card for the cautionable offense, immediately followed by the red card for the send-off for receiving a second caution in the same match.
A cautionary note: Because a second caution will result in the player being sent off, the second caution should be given when, in the opinion of the referee, it is truly a cautionable offense (in other words, you would have given a first caution for the misconduct) and the misconduct clearly continues a pattern of behavior of that player despite the prior notice of the first caution that a continuation would result in the player being sent from the field. In circumstances where the behavior of the player does not represent such a continuation, the referee should attempt to manage the player using other techniques short of a caution.
