Question Number: 34300

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 8/15/2021

RE: Competitive Under 17

Rabs of cambridge, ontario canada asks...

I was playing in a tournament last weekend as was wondering if the did the right thing. My team was the defending team and somehow one of the attacking players slipped as he was carrying the ball. It didn't look like he was fouled just lost his footing. He was surrounded be defenders so maybe that made him loose his balance. Anyway as he fell he ended up falling into one of the my defending players. Unfortunately both of them got injured and had to leave the field. But the ref restarted it with a drop ball. Shouldn't that have been a foul since he took out my player?

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Rabs,
soccer is a contact sport so occasionally some of it occurs without there being a foul or form of misconduct. An accidental clash is likely how the referee interpreted the contact, the drop ball for the injury should go to the team with ball possession. If it was deemed as a careless foul by the referee then a free kick could be awarded. His match his decision his reputation! Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Rabs
Thanks for the question.
As described by you it was a careless foul committed by the slipping player and the restart should have been a direct free kick not a dropped ball.

However the referee did not see it like that and probably saw it as an accidental coming together by two players which resulted in injuries that required the game to be stopped. When play is stopped for an injury the restart is a dropped ball to the team that last touched the ball.

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Rabs,
What the restart should be depends entirely on how the referee saw the incident. If the referee judged it as a foul challenge by the player who fell then the restart should have been a direct free kick to your team.

However if the referee judged that the player's actions did not rise to the minimum level of carelessness required for a foul to take place and instead, stopped play purely because of the injuries to the two players then the restart should be a dropped ball to the team that last touched the ball before play was stopped.

Unfortunately for me there's just not enough detail in the description to be able to say which would be the correct decision and I think this is one of those instances where (as is often in the case) you really have to see the incident in person, to be able to judge it.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Rabs,
It's a good question. One thing about the laws that can be frustrating for players is just how much of it is up to interpretation.
The fact that your player was injured doesn't make anything a foul. Sometimes things just happen. Fouls are all specified in the laws. In order to consider something like this a foul, the referee needs to have the opinion that the player was acting carelessly - that is, that they carelessly tripped/I've just mentioned the relevant fouls here).

Careless is defined in the laws as: when a player shows a lack of attention or consideration when making a challenge or acts without precaution. No disciplinary sanction is needed.

So, could you make that claim for the player's actions? Or is it just an unavoidable accident, one of those things? Different to, say, a mistimed kick that trips a player - because there, the defender is showing a lack of attention or consideration.

So, that's what the decision comes down to - and I know from previous dscussions, that referees have different views on whether a player losing footing and falling into another is sufficient for a foul.

Without seeing the incident it's difficult to say if it should be a foul or not, but it's one of those things that comes down to the referee's interpretation on the day. Either decision could be correct.