Fouls and misconduct (association football)
A foul in football (soccer) is an unfair act by a player which is deemed by the referee to contravene Law 12 of the Laws of the Game.
For an act to be a foul it must:
- be a specific offense listed in Law 12 of the Laws of the Game (other infractions, for example technical infractions at restarts, are not deemed to be fouls);
- be committed by a player (not a substitute);
- be committed against an opponent, when applicable (a player striking the referee, for example, is not a foul, but a misconduct)
- occur while the ball is in play.
As can be seen from the above not all infractions of the Laws are fouls, rather they may constitute — and be punished as — technical infractions and/or misconduct.
Direct free kick offenses
- Kicking or attempting to kick an opponent
- Tripping or attempting to trip an opponent
- Jumping at an opponent
- Charging an opponent
- Striking or attempting to strike an opponent
- Pushing an opponent
- Tackling an opponent to gain possession of the ball, making contact with the opponent before touching the ball
- Holding an opponent
- Spitting at an opponent
- Handling the ball deliberately (except for the goalkeeper within his own penalty area).
- Brings food onto the pitch
Handling the ball is deemed to be deliberate if the referee believes that the player attempted to control the ball with the hand or any part of the arm ("hand-to-ball"). If the ball strikes the hand or arm of a player inadvertently then it is not deemed an offense ("ball-to-hand").
If a direct free kick offense occurs within a team's own penalty area it becomes punishable by a penalty kick, irrespective of the position of the ball, provided the ball was in play.
Indirect free kick offenses
Fouls punishable by an indirect free kick are:
- When a goalkeeper, inside his own penalty area:
- takes more than six seconds while controlling the ball with his hands before releasing it from his possession
- touches the ball again with his hands after it has been released from his possession and has not touched any other player
- touches the ball with his hands after it has been deliberately kicked to him by a team-mate
- touches the ball with his hands after he has received it directly from a throw-in taken by a team-mate
- When any player in the opinion of the referee:
- plays in a dangerous manner
- impedes the progress of an opponent
- prevents the goalkeeper from releasing the ball from his hands
- commits any other offense, not previously mentioned in Law 12, for which play is stopped to caution or dismiss a player.
Advantage
According to Law 5 of the Laws, the referee should allow play to continue when the team against which an offense has been committed will benefit from such an advantage. The referee indicates this by calling "advantage" and extending both arms in front of his body.
This means that a foul will not be called if the referee feels that letting play continue is more advantageous to the fouled team than stopping play for a free kick. However, if the anticipated advantage does not ensue at that time, the referee may then stop play and penalize the original offense.
Other offenses
Not all infractions of the Laws are fouls. Non-foul infractions may be dealt with as technical infractions (e.g. as breaching the rules governing the restarts of play) or misconduct (these are punishable by a caution or sending-off meaning that team has only 10 players for the rest of the game). Note that severe or persistent fouls may constitute misconduct.