It helps to know is on a player’s mind when the player makes physical contact with an opponent.  It can help you decide whether it is a foul, or maybe a caution or maybe a send off.  Of course it is not possible to read minds, at least for those of us without ESP.  You can learn to get a good feel for what the player is trying to accomplish by what the player does and this will help you.

           

The biggest key to understanding what the player is trying to accomplish is to read the tactical situation.  In a game I was watching recently there were several incidents where teammates of the player in possession would bump or chuck opponents coming up to make a challenge.  These were individually minor incidents that went unpunished during the match and seemed to contribute to bad feelings and difficulties later on.

           

The teammates were using this minor contact to prevent opponents from making a timely challenge.  The problem is this is not legal in soccer.  It could be impeding but in this case a direct free kick would have been more appropriate.  If the referee had recognized the purpose of these bumps, they would have stopped after one or two were called.  It would have saved a serious incident from happening at the end of game.

           

If the referee had read the incident fully it would have lead him to a better alternative.  The player had no choice to prevent the scoring opportunity except to foul.  The foul itself was an ordinary foul.  Just enough to accomplish its purpose of eliminating the opportunity.  If the referee had understood that he would have followed the mandate of the rules and sent the player off for denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity. If you decide that the defender’s actions are a foul, you must send off. You have no choice.

           

Recognizing intent is important in other situations to help the referee decide whether a caution is appropriate.  Take these two different situations where the same foul I committed. If two players are vigoursly contesting for the ball and in the heat of the moment one grabs the others shirt.  Certainly a foul but probably not a caution.  In the other situation, a player has just stolen the ball and begins a quick counterattack up the touchline only to be yanked off the ball by a shirt pull.  The intent here was to disrupt a potential opportunity.  This is by far more serious than the other and probably needs a card.

           

Take a situation where two players are chasing a loose ball.  In the first the red player gets there just before the white player and plays the ball away.  The white player slows to avoid contact but still makes substantial contact.  Perhaps a foul; perhaps no call.  In the second situation the white player turns his shoulder into his opponent and continues at the seam pace.  By his actions, the referee should read that the second player is making the most of an opportunity to get in a cheap shot.  Certainly a foul and probably a card.

           

Try to figure out what the players are trying to do and vary your punishment if any according to the intent of the players.  You really don’t need to be clairvoyant, just observant.

 

Submitted by Al Baer