Question:
I have a question for you. but first i will tell you about an incident that happened {supposedly} during one of my games. i caution a player for a foul in the penalty area in the first half. in the second half the same player does the same thing, this time last defender, in the penalty area again. denying goalscoring opportunity. i send off this player. now the game is over. i then find out from the parents of the team that did not get the red card that when the player got to the touch line he high fived his teammates. unfortunately i did not observe this as i was tending to the injured player that was taken down from behind. now my question for you is this: if i observed this behavior, would a caution to his teamates and or coach be in order. or would i be able to terminate the game. i would think that if i saw this happening i would say that it is unsporting behavior. thank you for your time and wisdom as i am getting different answers from different referees.
USSF answer (November 27, 2007):
Once you have sent off a player you may not then caution that player for anything he does. And don’t even think about sending him off a second time! Nor may you caution his teammates and certainly not his coach — coaches may not be cautioned for anything unless the rules of the competition specifically allow it; the Laws allow you simply to expel the coach or other team official for irresponsible behavior. The only option open to you is to include complete details of everything you observed and heard in your match report. As you did not observe the high-fiving, you might suggest that the parents of the other team also submit reports to the competition authority.
