Order of cards

[deusex]

When dealing with a situation where more than one card is required in what order do you issue them and why?

Can't say I've ever really thought about this and have done all 3 of the above.
I kind of like chronologically as it makes it easier for the simple minds of coaches/spectators to process what is happening.
I also think that issuing the reds first or last can be justified in different situations.
If a player reacts to a reckless challenge with VC often I will issue the caution first to defuse the "what about him ref?!!??" factor.
Obviously sometimes the red MUST come out first.

 

[Charlie Jones]

never had it before, but I would like to think id go yellows all round first, then reds all round - again, unless there was someone that was being aggressive etc and needed him gone

 

[Yampy]

I'm sure the advice I was given and have seen repeated in various forms, is to deal with the dismissal(s) first of all and then the cautions.

 

[Kieran W]

Yeah sure it's been discussed before.

The way I would do it would be Reds first then Yellows, alternating between the teams. So:

Red Home, Red Away... then Yellow Home, Yellow Away...

This way you're dealing with the worst offenders and getting them out of the equation first as they're more likely to be riled up and more prone to doing something else or being targeted by other players. And you're also avoiding conflict between yourself and the players/team officials by dealing with both teams simultaneously and not giving the impression that you're favouring one side.

 

[Kes]

I'm sure that somewhere in the LOTG it advises that a referee should always deal with the more serious offence first......

 

[Kieran W]

I'm sure that somewhere in the LOTG it advises that a referee should always deal with the more serious offence first......

I believe that's the part that deals with two different offences taking place at the same time, and you penalise the most serious offence, you're referring to?

 

[Kes]

I believe that's the part that deals with two different offences taking place at the same time, and you penalise the most serious offence, you're referring to?

Yep. You're right. (I've just checked).

It's not actually laid down in law, but logically, (and as you've already stated) the same chronological sequence as above would normally be applied ie. deal with the more serious offence(s) first (reds) followed by any cautions.

 

[AlexF]

Teaching here in Canada is "deal with the reds first, then cautions".

The reason is... if someone's guilty of both a cautionable offence and a dismissal offence, just dismiss because if the caution is their second caution, their dismissal is actually less severe.

As noted above, this gets rid of the "worst offenders" first... and then allows you to deal with the lesser offenders.

 

[jofusref]

reds first, get rid of any players who are going so that things dont escalate

 

[DanCohen17]

All reds first, then all yellows (then any bench dismissals). That is expected at L4+ and is the way it MUST be done

 

[HullRef]

I've only had a few situations with more than one card at once and I did it chronologically (but they were all reads anyway).

I ended up sounding a bit like a rugby ref in the end. I got the players involved together because it had all calmed down and there wasn't a chance of anything else kicking off. I also called the captains over to listen so that they knew what was going on.

I explained what I had seen in chronological order and dismissed them in that way so there was no doubt that I had seen everything.

 

[RegalRef]

Always reds first.

I understand the thought about the yellows first, but in a mass confrontation following reckless tackle the mass confrontation becomes a much more serious incident and that has to be dealt with first.

Always red first every time, no question.

 

[Matthew]

It's not happened to me too often, but I've always gone red cards first. To me it seems the common sense way to go in that it gets the worst offenders off the pitch as quickly as possible.

 

[lincs22]

All reds first, then all yellows (then any bench dismissals). That is expected at L4+ and is the way it MUST be done

As @DanCohen17 says, that is the correct order where you have separated them. But always consider match control, so if a fast yellow helps control - do it in advance of the reds.