Question Number: 17073

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 10/3/2007

Franco of Bloomington, USA asks...

This question is a follow up to question 16985

I disagree with the comment that I am trying to defend or justify my occasions of dropped ball. I am admitting I was wrong and committed this wrong in games. I am trying to understand the explanation of something that, (for whatever reason), I have misunderstood for some time. I know what I should be doing now.

My reasoning before was that I saw my stopping play after the fact of a misconduct, was not the same as me stopping play at the moment misconduct occrured. So I saw it as the ref (which was me) stopped play for none of the reasons listed under restarts. I did not see it as stopping the game for misconduct sine the misconduct had occured previously and the game was now flowing and was past the misconduct. I know now that I was wrong, but that was my thought process.

Okay, now lets say miconduct occurs by team A, but for whatever reason I am correct in letting play continue for another minute or so. For this scenario, lets say the misconduct by team A happened in the their attacking half of the field. The minute later, when I decide to stop play for the misconduct, the ball is back in possesion of team A but now its in their defending half of the field and in team Bs attacking half. Now team B gets an IDFK. Is the free kick from the spot of the misconduct (Team Bs defending half) or is the spot of the kick located by where the ball was when I stopped play (team Bs attacking half). I know where it would have been if I had stopped misonduct when it happened, but I am not sure since I let play continue for another minute and the original spot of the misconduct and ball are now 80 yards away. One way seems to punish team B when they are the innocent party. Would they prefer loss of possesion close to the goal they are trying to score in or gaining possesion close to the goal they are defending.

Franco

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

I understand your reasoning and am glad you see why a dropped ball would be incorrect. WHENEVER you stop play solely for misconduct, the restart is an IFK. But if I understand this series of questions, the misconduct is actually a penal foul raised to the level of misconduct. In that case, you're not stopping play for misconduct, you're stopping play for a foul and in this case the restart is a DFK. Given that you've allowed play to continue for far too long to come back and punish the foul, I have to agree with Ref Fleischer that you find some reason to stop play and that reason will cause the restart. Then punish the reckless nature of the foul, caution the player and show him the yellow card. A dropped ball just doesn't work.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Franco you must find a reason to stop play when you wait till the ball is at the other end of the park besides misconduct that happened eons ago, Something, anything will do. The slightest touch, pull, hack, anything will do. That becomes the next stoppage and you can deal with the discipline then. This is the "phantom foul". I use this only when I NEED to get something done and it NEEDS to be done NOW and I have already let things run way too long. It happens once or twice a decade because I can pull back an advantage given if I need to. Just don't use a dropped ball to restart.

Regards,