Question:
The ball is out of play over the touch line, but barely.
As AR I raise my flag, but the referee does not see it. A couple of seconds later the referee whistles a foul and issues a caution for unsporting behavior. My flag is still up. Before the restart he sees the flag and elects to restart play with the throw-in.
Should the caution be rescinded, since technically the ball was out of play and the foul and caution “never occurred”?
(Actually, the referee never saw my flag and restarted with the free kick. But I got to thinking about the above possibility.)
USSF answer (April 7, 2008):
The referee’s decision to restart with the throw-in was (or would have been) correct. When the referee decides to go with the AR’s flag for a throw-in, then the “foul” and misconduct become simply misconduct, which can still be punished with a caution for unsporting behavior. The decision to go with the throw-in does not void punishment for the cautionable offense.
