A&H

Red card

Thegreatsage!

Thegreatsage!

New Member
Level 7 Referee
Good evening all, I’ve just come across this golden nugget of a Referees forum and thought I’d put a question out there.

I had an incident today which I’ve never come across before so I seek guidance and opinion.

2 opposing players today were constantly bickering with each other and having little digs here and there, I’m sure you’ve come across this all before.

I got them in for a quick chat and told them to calm it down. This seemed to work until the second half. I then had a quiet word with each Captain to reel their players in as I could hear them still bickering as the game was being played out.

Then it happened, a ball was there to be won and these 2 players both went flying in feet first (both players off the ground) into each other. Screams were heard and on mass confrontation started.

After the arguing, shouting and pushing on both sides had calmed down I red carded both for dangerous and reckless tackles. Unbelievably some of the home coaching staff questioned this decision.

Because of tackle and mass confrontation I was not sure how I should restart the game so i did a uncontested drop ball which one team kicked the ball back to the opponents keeper, no issues I thought everyone happy.

I was then questioned after the match by an ex country official why I didn’t give a free kick to the team he thought came off worse in the challenge. I disagreed with him as it was not clear and there would have been further pandemonium.

Since I’ve got home I’ve beat myself up thinking did I do the right thing, I can’t change it now but thought I’d ask for the experienced referee to give their verdict.
 
The Referee Store
Hmmm. Never had to red card two players for going in at the same time. With excessive force.
Play should have been restarted with a free kick though but not as the "former referee" describes.
Firstl option is 1 player committed the offence before the other, the free kick should be awarded to the player 2. Sequential offences.
The 2nd is that their truly was no difference and they committed the offences at the exact moment in time (very very rare) you then follow what the law says to do for simultaneous offences (this really is for like careless challenges that also dogso simultaneously but is an option).

Dangerous and reckless be careful with these words, they describe a yellow card offence. Excessive force and endangering safety is what you are looking for with red card offences.
 
I confess I cant picture this incident in my head, so, i will leave that to others

what i do add is exactly James point, dangerous, reckless , is yellow.

so, its important to establish whether red cards were worthy.

sadly, if at home, a few hours after the game, they are still being described as dangeeous etc, then the red cards are incorrect
 
After two red cards and a mass conf you want to calm the game right down.

Give a free kick to the team in their defensive half. Basically you want nothing exciting to happen from the restart.

FWIW, I can picture what happened. May not be a likely occurrence at higher tiers, but in amongst the weeds of grassroots football where I suspect both you and I operate this sort of thing does happen and I suspect the red cards were warranted
 
Team officials questioning a decision? Whatever next ...?! ;) . In all seriousness, there are SOME, more unusual decisions where we should expect questioning from the sidelines and a double red card like this will always be one of them. Partly because some officials won't appreciate that that outcome is perfectly permissible in law and partly because their opinion on the challenge will always be swayed by their loyalties. As long as the questioning doesn't tip over into dissent then all good from my POV.

Closest I've come to the OP was a Supply League middle where I got a YC and a RC out of what sounds like a similar pair of challenges. In that situation I'd always err towards giving the free kick to the team who 'only' received a yellow card as the timing of the challenges will be near as dammit simultaneous
 
Agree with @JamesL for the technically correct answer. However I am with @RefJef and add a bit to it.

Neither side knows what the restart should be given the very rare circumstance. Your priority is bringing the game back under control given You just had two send offs and a mass con.

You have absolutely no reason to beat yourself up for handling of this.
 
Thank you all for the feedback, it’s really useful.

I must admit I agree with some of the comments and differ on others but at the end of the day it’s a continuous learning process irrespective of the level of qualification held.👍
 
Having re read it, the former official is certainly wrong
Whoever came off worst is not a consideration

as much as its been told both flew in, one has to be adjuged to have committed the first foul

Tbh, if its as written and its in a dead or neutral area of the pitch, i can understand either team getting the fk, if not, the defensive team

def not sending both off then giving one of them a 25 yard central shot on goal
 
A hearty Sunday league whopper. I can totally picture this, you’ve done well to give equal punishment. From your description, I agree with the double red, it’s the “flying in” which demonstrates excessive force. Don’t care who committed a tenth of a second before the other. They both intended to fly in forcefully and dangerously.

if you give a yellow each like some have suggested, you are giving the other 20 players on the pitch a carte blanche to “fly in” at someone once and know it’s just a yellow. And let’s remember, grass roots, Sunday league, some men love scrapping.

I’ve also seen it happen that only 1 gets a red card in a similar situation, because he didn’t roll around for 5 minutes.

think the restart of that would have confused me too. Good point made above, free kick in the defensive half.

don’t kick yourself, sounds like you handled it well.
 
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