Question Number: 23565

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 6/27/2010

RE: rec, select Adult

gary of nashua , nh usa asks...

I was reading that a foul can only occur when the ball is in the field of play. When officiating an U-11 game,a player kicked the ball out of bounds and immediatelty pushed an opposing player after the ball crossed the touchline. I awarded a DFK to the opposing team. Should I have changed directions of the throw in instead?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Gary
Unfortunately you are wrong on both counts. If the ball is out of play a foul cannot be committed so the restart is the original throw in. The direction does not change either. If the referee felt that the push which happened when the ball was out of play was misconduct then the referee could caution the player for unsporting behaviour. Again the TI restart does not change because of the caution.

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

Fouls can only occur on the field, while the ball is in play, by a player against an opponent. If the ball is out of play, then there can be no foul, and thus no DFK. If the ball was kicked out of play before the push, then the restart is a throw-in for the team that did not kick it out.

If the ball had not yet left the field when the push occurred, then definitely a DFK can be awarded, as this occurred on the field, while the ball was in play by one team against the other.

Thus, a DFK here was the wrong choice. And so would be a throw-in the other direction. The only possible choice is to caution the player for the push, but only if it was a reckless challenge. A stern warning at U11 should be sufficient - once only.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

When a player does something improper when the ball is out of play, the referee can punish it as misconduct (warning, cautioning, or sending off as appropriate).

But the restart will be based on the reason the ball went out of play (in this a throw-in for the team that did not touch it last) . Misconduct that occurs when the ball is out of play never changes the original restart.

Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

No! Once a restart has been established that restart must occur in soccer. This is not basketball! What you can do is issue a card if you feel misconduct has occurred.