Law 12 outlines the cautionable misconduct offenses as unsporting behavior, dissent, persistent infringement, delays the restart, fails to respect the required distance, enters/reenters without permission, and leaves the field without permission. Most are pretty cut-and-dried for the most part. Although most players and coaches I’ve worked with have bought into the myth of “he has to ask for 10 yards”. Yet none can show me in the LoTG where it says this requirement is dependent on any such request. Players and coaches conveniently forget that it’s supposed to be a FREE kick. Most coaches and players also don’t realize there’s a 2-yard required distance for throw-ins as well.
But this post is about the cautionable offenses I find to be more elusive because they tend to be more subjective - Dissent & Persistent Infringement. I also tend to feel that not enough yellow cards are shown for these.
Dissent -
My experience is that most players believe they are allowed to dissent the referee. I don’t know where they got the idea. I think it’s in large part because they’ve been allowed to dissent for so long, they’ve come to expect to be able to keep doing it. I think it’s unfortunate how many referees “just take it” - and shame on them! As a result, I think I come as a big surprise to a lot of players because I take a lot less than most referees I’ve met. I don’t know how many times I’ve shown a player the yellow card and told him it was for dissent and the player doesn’t understand that he’s done something wrong.
Unfortunately, guidance on this in the entry level certification course is virtually nonexistent. Plus, I think the LoTG and USSF’s Advice To Referees don’t really do a very good job guiding the referee on “how much is enough”. For me, I think players most need to learn that they really shouldn’t try to debate the referee. If a player wants to know what a call is, I’m happy to tell him/her. I’m even willing to listen to their displeasure of the call (to a point). But I have yet to meet a player who changed a referee’s mind about a call - so why do so many players think they can debate a call with the referee? After a certain point, I tell the player that we’re done talking about it and it’s time to move on and play. When they persist with their dissent after this, it’s usually a pretty short path to my pocket for the yellow card.
But what do you guys think? At what point is enough dissent really enough for you?
Persistent Infringement -
Persistent infringement is another form of misconduct for which I think too few cards are issued. Whenever I show a yellow card for PI, the player nearly always looks at me like I’m from another planet. But I think it’s another case of insufficient guidance. USSF’s Advice To Referees describes Persistent Infringement thusly -
“Persistent infringement occurs either when a player repeatedly commits fouls or infringements or participates in a pattern of fouls directed against the same opponent. Persistent infringement also occurs if a player repeatedly fouls multiple opponents. It is not necessary for the multiple fouls to be of the same type or all to be direct free kick fouls, but infringements must be among those covered in Law 12 or involve repeated violations of Law 14. In most cases, the referee should warn the player that the pattern has been observed and, upon a subsequent violation, must then issue the caution.”
I think the key word is “repeatedly”. How many fouls are required? Of what nature? In how much time? Normally, if I identify a player who’s obviously playing out of control and commits a couple fouls in a relatively short time (10-15 minutes) I’ll tell him to settle down and play. Then he’s on a much shorter leash. But at what point does it satisfy the “repeatedly commits fouls” criteria? The last time I cautioned a player for PI, I felt he definitely earned it (even after being verbally warned), but I made the mistake of saying the number of fouls he’d committed in a short time. After that, one member of his team proceeded to point out each time a member of the opposing team had committed that number of fouls. How do you avoid feeding this type of petty dissent? How do you handle persistent infringement?