Administering a Sanction Based on a Players Injury

[the walloper]

The Luke Shaw incident during the PSV v Man Utd CL match got me thinking about this.

Now in real time, it looks like a great tackle from the PSV lad. He's came in and clearly played the ball with his right foot. It's the follow through with his left which catches Shaw and inadvertently breaks his leg.

Now, if a tackle is made which breaks a leg, should this not be considered as using excessive force? When scoring the check box for serious foul play with that particular incident; there was no intent to injure, he was in control of the tackle and studs were not raised. Certainly, he came in at speed, but it just didn't seem to suggest a red card in real time.

However in saying that, if a tackle is made which breaks a leg, which in my opinion is use of excessive force, then it should be a sending off offence. I suppose you could ask the question, how can you as referee gauge excessive force by judging injuries? Well we can't unless a leg is hanging off and we are not medically trained either. But if an injury is that bad then it is proof that excessive force has been used, no matter if the ball is played or not.

Was Shaw just unfortunate? It's a tricky one, and hard to take retrospective action based on an injury.

I've never had such an injury during any of my games. But i've had games when i've had fouls, which i've thought a foul only and a word in the ear will suffice, only for the tackled player to approach me and show me a huge gash or stud marks on his leg. I've then thought to myself afterwards, maybe that actually was a caution or red card.

Food for thought.

 

[Ryan Owens]

First of all, I feel really bad for Luke Shaw. He's a quality young player and this injury will take him out for at least this season and could have serious impacts on the rest of his career (assuming it isn't career-ending).

To answer your question, we punish the player's action, not the result of said action. It's incredibly hard to do in situations like that where a player breaks his leg clean in two basically, but that's the job. The job is also to deal with the ensuing difficulty of keeping the injured player's teammates in line. In a case where that happens at lower levels, it shouldn't be that hard because, frankly, nobody's going to want to continue (and we had a conversation about whether or not to abandon a match where an injury of that nature occurs in a youth match a little over a year ago). If there might be a problem, I recommend speaking to both team's captains and telling them just what's going to happen: "the tackle was good, the follow-through caught him which is a foul, but there's nothing to sanction beyond giving the penalty kick." Use your personality.

 

[Jacko]

recommend speaking to both team's captains and telling them just what's going to happen: "the tackle was good, the follow-through caught him which is a foul, but there's nothing to sanction beyond giving the penalty kick." Use your personality.

All well and good having a personality, but when a captain is looking at his team mate who is injured with a broken leg and you say that you're opening a can of words and probably going to have to send him off for what he's about to say to you.

I'd deal with the fact's. Don't get into a conversation, player's will want to twist your words into what they want to hear.

If you're unsure to caution or red, take your time, think, have a look at the injury as you call on the first aid team, (as the injured player should be your first priority!) then use what you have seen to, how he's gone in for the ball, the result of the challenge, to either caution or red. And with a leg break, I'd personally be airing on the side of caution by upgrading to a red.

 

[Ryan Owens]

Did you see the tackle? It was neither reckless nor using excessive force. It was a careless tackle with a back leg catching Shaw. It was a foul, but there was no sanction required (and, thankfully, none given on the day).