Question Number: 34481

Other 1/19/2022

RE: Competitive Adult

Peter Babbage of Hjorring, Denmark asks...

Having just watched the Leicester v Spurs match I’m a little confused.
Having only just received a yellow card Bergwyn after scoring his 2nd goal not only left the field of play but went into the crowd.
Surely this was a crowd safety issue and he should have received a 2nd caution.
I recall Raheem Sterling getting a 2nd yellow in stoppage time and in that case he didn’t go into the crowd rather the public surged forward and spilled onto the pitch .
As an aside if he had removed his shirt he would surely have got a yellow and I know which is the more dangerous and indeed inflammatory

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Peter,

I haven't seen the incident in question.

Here's the relevant passage from Law 12:

A player must be cautioned, even if the goal is disallowed, for:

climbing onto a perimeter fence and/or approaching the spectators in a manner which causes safety and/or security issues

Up to a few seasons ago, the law made it a mandatory caution to climb onto or jump over perimeter fencing or advertising signage. I remember one incident - Romanian second division, mostly empty seats. One player, after having scored a goal, found a loopholein the law - he ran through an empty gate to sit himself in the front row (that section was completely empty) and applaud his own goal!

Anyway, back to your question, I would say that in a venue with the sort of attendance you're talking about, that running into the crowd should absolutely be a yellow card.

I hate to say it, but I wonder if the referee's decision would have been different if it was his first card? We all know it shouldn't be.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Peter
The referee was Jon Moss.

In this incident it was the last minute of the game with 7 minutes of added time having being played and Spurs had just equalised some one minute or so earlier. The winning goal sparked wild celebrations both in the Spurs supporters area of the ground and also in the Spurs technical area. It just so happened that the goal was at that end of the ground where the away supporters were located. .

Now I have looked at it and it is unclear to me whether the Spurs supporters spilled over the barrier pitch side. In addition most of the Spurs players went into that area as well. So it is quite difficult to see with many players, security, spectators, police all in a tight confined area what actually transpired.

For what it is worth Bergwin had just been cautioned for an altercation with a Leicester player. The Leicester player went down dramatically with a push by Bergwin as he remonstrated about a possible dive.

Now I wonder if referees after the Sterling incident have been advised to be mindful of how they deal with these type of situations. The Sterling sending off was not well received and it attracted a lot of negative press at the time.

In this incident it was essentially the last minute of the game, emotions were extremely high and does the game expect the referee to wade in and send off the player for a second caution in what is the last play of the game. A shirt removal would have been clearer and a caution would be expected whereas to me there was doubt about location here and what actually happened. The game was essentially over and personally I think it was the best decision in the circumstances. Sometimes the best decision may not the correct technical decision and it is easy in the comfort of our couch to make decisions.

Had Referee Jon Moss sent off the player like in the Sterling incident I’m fairly certain that would be the centre of attraction in the aftermath rather than a dramatic last five minutes with an equaliser and winning goal. Being the centre of attraction is not a place that referees want to be particularly in incidents of high celebrations and emotions in the last minute of a game.