At what age of player do you apply the Law?

[xPositor]

If i was told that i could not yellow/red players because of age or competition rules then i would not referee the game. Although i do not referee said age groups anyway. The exception being tournaments. Last season i refereed a tournament and it was U10 group that weekend. Player gets gets fouled he jumps up smacks player in mouth, said player gets red card, bearing in mind matches 12 minutes long and there was one minute left. If i was told then by the admin that i can't use cards then i would not have continued.

The use of cards should be mandated in the tournament rules, which should be approved by the club's CFA as part of the tournament affiliation. From memory, my club's rules cover blue card for yellow card offences (two minute sin bin), red cards as usual, but differentiate between what might be a one game ban in the tournament, through to a complete ban from the tournament (e.g. VC). Offences requiring a ban from the tournament also get followed up with County.
Now, if we could ensure that all CFA's adopted a standards based approach to tournament rules in this area, all we would need to do is confirm that the tournament is sanctioned...

 

[Mooseybaby]

My son's U14s match I was at last week as a parent reinforced my view that referees should use cards if necessary for u13s and above, sooner if the incident is serious enough.

"Referee" was a member of the home team's coaching staff. From the very first minute, the home side appeared intent on kicking my son's team off the pitch. By my estimation, for every 10 blatantly obvious fouls they committed, the referee gave 2 or 3 fouls at most. One home player particularly had the air of playground bully. One of the few fouls that were given during the first half was for a fairly shocking "challenge", which could quite easily been a red card by said playground bully. Player responded to the foul being given by booting the ball halfway down the pitch. Referee never said a single word to the player for either the foul or the obvious dissent that followed. A member of the home teams coaching staff took him off a few minutes later "to calm him down", but clearly didn't work as when he eventually came back on, he appeared even more wound up than when he started the match!

Another incident near the end of the 2nd half, A home team player was on the floor and being treated for an injury, not sure if words were exchanged between some of the players, but whilst players from both teams were standing around waiting, a home team player picked up the ball and dropped kicked it at an away player at close range, again the referee did nothing!

There were many other incidents where the "referee" turned a blind eye such as 10 yards at free kicks? Nah, more like 2 or 3. As well jumping in front and attempting to block the keeper's clearance from hand.

The home side was the prime example of a side that were used to having a manager/dad referee their games, probably poorly coached and never been subjected to match discipline. Sooner or later they will come across a referee that is unwilling to put up with their behaviour and be of the receiving end of many cards. No doubt when it does happen it will probably be a complete culture shock for them and prompt complaints that the "referee lost the plot".

Fortunately my son's team had the last laugh, coming out of the game without suffering any serious injuries and won the game 12-1!

Managed to keep my mouth shut on the sidelines, had I been refereeing, might have got a RSI from dishing out cards!

 

[mikedn]

The use of cards should be mandated in the tournament rules, which should be approved by the club's CFA as part of the tournament affiliation. From memory, my club's rules cover blue card for yellow card offences (two minute sin bin), red cards as usual, but differentiate between what might be a one game ban in the tournament, through to a complete ban from the tournament (e.g. VC). Offences requiring a ban from the tournament also get followed up with County.
Now, if we could ensure that all CFA's adopted a standards based approach to tournament rules in this area, all we would need to do is confirm that the tournament is sanctioned...

I have not yet officiated at a tournament which doesn't sanction cards, but (again) i wouldn't be involved if they didn't.....

 

[CiaranK]

Went to see my youngest brother play today as I was nursing a cold and honestly couldn't believe what I saw.
This was an U10 game and one player was punched in the mouth whilst another player committed 3 tackles that each on their own would have resulted in a red card. The parent ref did nothing at all to protect the other players.
The player who committed the 3 fouls did get taken off and was "high-fiving" the manager who was telling my brother's coach "No cards at this level".
So, you have a team at the ripe old age of U10 football basically being coached in playing in that manner as nobody will put them right or take any action against them.
Very sad state of affairs.

 

[2nd String Ref]

Went to see my youngest brother play today as I was nursing a cold and honestly couldn't believe what I saw.
This was an U10 game and one player was punched in the mouth whilst another player committed 3 tackles that each on their own would have resulted in a red card. The parent ref did nothing at all to protect the other players.
The player who committed the 3 fouls did get taken off and was "high-fiving" the manager who was telling my brother's coach "No cards at this level".
So, you have a team at the ripe old age of U10 football basically being coached in playing in that manner as nobody will put them right or take any action against them.
Very sad state of affairs.

I've seen that before too.
I think there are a few (but thankfully, very, very few) junior coaches that are using that amended law of 'no cards' to coach their teams to play that way. Any attack can be stopped by a foul, any sort of foul is OK as long as it stops them.

 

[pankaye]

I will ask again, are competions allowed to amend the Laws that way?

I know the law does give scope for it to be amended for instance size of the pitch, number of players etc but arent certain things like definition of a foul, wether you can caution for a foul or not etc aren't amenable.

 

[Peter Grove]

The latest (I could find) FA Laws for Mini-Soccer attached.
Key point is quoted below (in my mind). These laws apply up to and including under 10's. Under 11's and upwards, full LotG apply.

For me, especially given the number of references to cards not being used, the key point is that when it comes to Law 12, other than the minor modification regarding the location of free kicks for goalkeeping offences, it says:

Normal rules apply, as per Laws of Association Football.

Unless the something I'm missing, I can detect nothing to suggest that cards should not be used, either in this document or in the Standard Code of Rules that is referenced.

 

[pankaye]

Unless the something I'm missing, I can detect nothing to suggest that cards should not be used, either in this document or in the Standard Code of Rules that is referenced.

I think with regards to not using cards etc it's a matter of convention rather than law.

But if a 1 year old player tells me to f*** off or punches someone else they are walking. Big boys game big boys rules

 

[GraemeS]

Certainly for junior football, I've always understood that cards are always technically available to the referee, but that a lot more leeway should be given in regards to what can be considered "only careless" where it might be reckless or worse at an older level. Also that there is a convention of telling the manager and getting a player substituted where you might otherwise caution them for persistent infringements. But at the end of the day, if a qualified referee comes along and feels that an incident requires a card (even with the extra leeway), that option should always be available to them - and assuming they're not being heavy-handed, I think most managers would support that.

Academy games are a different matter though - again, I wouldn't advise any referee to take the field without his cards at least in his pocket, but I think you have to be really careful about the "political" implications of using them. I think the way to do it is talk to the manager and say something like "in any other game, he would have seen red/yellow for that - if you don't take him off now, I will get my cards out". That means that between you, you've worked to avoid the card actually being used, but the player has still been punished and their manager knows it. I haven't done many academy games though, so take this suggestion with a pinch of salt...

 

[Sheffields Finest]

Edukashun, edukashun, edukashun..... wurked 4 mi