Is this a drop ball restart?

[FC555]

Ball is going towards the keeper and being chased by an attacker. Keeper catches the ball, attacker runs past very close to him 'brushing' against him shall we say, minimal contact but it's enough to set off a defender next to them both, resulting in both defender and attacker acting like idiots and gobbing off at each other. Now while they're close to each other they're not quite in each other's faces and haven't touched each other, but I can see tempers flaring. I instantly decided to shut this nonsense down and gave my whistle several quick blasts, called both of them over and told them this stops now/any more silliness and the cards will be coming out etc.

Now at the time I told the keeper to carry on as he was with the ball in his hands but analysing after the game, should it have been a drop ball to him? I don't think any of what they did deserved a free kick and I don't think the 2 players arguing quite did enough to be given a yellow each.

 

[Anubis]

if you have stopped the game, then what it cannot now be, is a simple play on.

Minimal contact on gk that started the incident? Safe sensible refereeing, freekick to gk.

if you are determined not to give the fk to the gk then yes, its a drop ball.

Proactive is the key word here, it might not be much of a foul, but the restart is going to the defensive team anyway, if it becomes clear the attention on the gk is a small flicker, about to turn into a flame, we have no need to try anything fancy, simply revert to type and kill the flame.

" striker, you just caught the gk there, not much in it, but,enough"

" defender, nothing for you to get excited about here"

what you cannot do now that you have ' stopped", is simply " carry on". Drop ball is ok, if you have not been alert enough to go fk, or willing to risk being reactive and returning to the fk to the gk.

 

[Will_A]

As Anubis says, if you deems the contact enough for a FK then give that. If not then a drop ball would be correct as you’ve stopped play.
The drop ball would be to the keeper anyway going by your description so playing on didn’t really have any impact.

Sometimes just using your voice to diffuse these situations is enough and you can allow the keeper a few extra seconds before releasing the ball while the attacker and defender sort themselves out.

 

[RustyRef]

Agree, just give a free kick even if the contact is soft. There's an expectation, although not a law requirement, that if you stop play to deal with players misbehaving and restart with a dropped ball that cautions are handed out.

 

[one]

Agree, just give a free kick even if the contact is soft. There's an expectation, although not a law requirement, that if you stop play to deal with players misbehaving and restart with a dropped ball that cautions are handed out.

You stop play and caution a player (op context), restart is either DFK, pen, or IFK. It can't be a dropped ball.

 

[RustyRef]

You stop play and caution a player (op context), restart is either DFK, pen, or IFK. It can't be a dropped ball.

That's what I meant, but the OP didn't issue any cards and restarted with a dropped ball, which would generally be frowned upon. The expectation would be cautions(s) and a free kick one way or the other. If it is serious enough to stop play cards really should be coming out, which means play can't be restarted with a dropped ball.

 

[ChasObserverRefDeveloper]

That's what I meant, but the OP didn't issue any cards and restarted with a dropped ball, which would generally be frowned upon. The expectation would be cautions(s) and a free kick one way or the other. If it is serious enough to stop play cards really should be coming out, which means play can't be restarted with a dropped ball.

It's an interesting issue. If the referee stops play only to caution, an ifk is the restart, as stated in LOTG.
However, there are various circumstances where a dropped ball restart is acceptable, effectively after play has been stopped with no offence committed, e. g. injury, dog or intruder on the f. o. p., crossbar dislodged, referee whistles accidentally . . . so I would see no issue with this being a dropped ball restart.

 

[one]

It's an interesting issue. If the referee stops play only to caution, an ifk is the restart, as stated in LOTG.
However, there are various circumstances where a dropped ball restart is acceptable, effectively after play has been stopped with no offence committed, e. g. injury, dog or intruder on the f. o. p., crossbar dislodged, referee whistles accidentally . . . so I would see no issue with this being a dropped ball restart.

Form a 'legal' view point, yes there is no issue. But the OP has stopped play due a confrontation which was caused by physical contact. Both of those are far from the examples you mentioned and can be offences. Even from a match control view point some sort of a punishment is expected. Also restarting with a dropped ball can cause confusion as to why play was stopped.