Question Number: 36025

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 9/16/2025

RE: Primary School Levet Under 10

Ian Ewen of Whickham, Newcastle upon Tyne England asks...

Player commits a foul outside the box, referee plays advantage, next touch of the ball is a foul inside the box, referee blows for penalty. Should the referee go back to the original foul ?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Ian
Thanks for the question
The answer is that as advantage has been played the best decision supported in Law is a penalty kick for the 2nd offence as that is the more advantageous decision for the offended against team.

Another consideration is that in the event of a possible denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity situation the award of a free kick rather than a penalty can bring in the possibility of a red card.
If the 2nd offence is a genuine attempt to play the ball with a penalty awarded a DOGSO red card gets reduced to a caution.

So a defending team in DOGSO situations may prefer that a penalty kick be awarded rather than a free kick and a red card on the 1st offence.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hello Ian,

this is just my opinion, as the referee, unless this player left me no other choice I'd be looking for a way to award the penalty kick & keep the player on the field.
A penalty kick is a pretty decent advantage! At the professional level it's between 75 to 85 % but the grassroots level it's only 60 to 70% chance of success. A lot of it has to do with the ability to handle pressure of expectations and actual skill levels. Interesting statistic psychological pressure still exists even at the elite level. English Premier Level has a PK success rate of about 83-84%. However at the World Cup, high pressure shootouts, the success drops down to around 70%. Mental resilience under pressure.

Referee resilience under pressure is to make good quality decisions.
Most teams would rather have the penalty kick from the 12 yard PK spot than the direct or indirect free kick outside the 18 yard area penalty area. However, my colleague trd McHugh makes an interesting point, if denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity was going to be the result of that first foul, reducing the opposition by a player, that also could be a very good advantage for the attacking team. 11 against 10. say if it was early in the game might be better than a 60 to 70% chance of scoring on a PK?

I think generally in the interest of quality football and expectations a penalty kick and a finger wave warning to the defender might be acceptable! This is of course enough provided the 1st tackle outside wasn't horrific or of a serious nature or even a caution yellow card shown. While we do cut some slack if there is a legitimate tackle attempt inside the PA that goes haywire outside the PA, if all the criteria fo DOGSO is there or perhaps the tackle is worthy of a reckless rather than stopping a promising attack type caution. A referee might want to take a moment or two and consider the options. To award a PK with a red card shown and a send of resulting in a player reduction of the opposition it's always going to feel a little off even if supported by the Laws of the Game.
Cheers