Question:
I was watching the below clip from a professional match. The referee restarted play with a drop ball. The red team expected the white team to kick the ball back to them because the red team had the ball before played was stopped. Instead, the white player took the ball and went on to score despite the protests. The referee went on to send off the scorer. I’m assuming it was for unsporting behavior (and hopefully that was his second yellow card and not a straight red).
So I have a few questions. Can you caution a player for unsporting behavior because they refuse to play “fair play” at a drop ball? If so, does the goal still count and what is the proper restart? Also, what punishment if any do the red players get for confronting the scorer and attempting to trip him?
Video: http://youtu.be/uwDA5vYkz28
USSF answer (December 16, 2011):
The answers to your questions in the order in which they were asked:
1. No, although the referee might have detected some separate misconduct by the white player that we non-Lusophone (Portuguese or Brazilian) speakers are unable to comprehend from the match commentary. Lacking an understanding of the language, we can say only that there is absolutely no requirement under the Laws of the Game that the white player surrender the ball to the red team.
2. If some misconduct by the white player was detected, then no, the goal does not count; the proper restart would be an indirect free kick from the place where the misconduct occurred.
3. If the referee applied the advantage for these attempted trips, then there is no punishment necessary.
