XII. FOULS AND MISCONDUCT

A player who intentionally commits any of the following eleven offences:
  1. kicks or attempts to kick an opponent;

  2. trips an opponent, i.e. throwing or attempting to throw him by using the legs or by stooping in front of or behind him;

  3. jumps at an opponent;

  4. charges an opponent in a violent or dangerous manner;

  5. charges an opponent from behind;

  6. strikes or attempts to strike an opponent or spits at him;

  7. holds an opponent;

  8. pushes an opponent;

  9. charges an opponent with the shoulder;

  10. slides in an attempt to play the ball, when it is being played or attempted to be played by an opponent (sliding tackle);

  11. handles the ball, i.e. carries, strikes or propels the ball with his hand or arm (this does not apply to the goalkeeper within his own penalty area);

shall be penalised by the award of a direct free kick to be taken by the opposing team from the place where the infringement occurred.

Should a player of the defending team intentionally commit one of the above eleven offences within the penalty area, he shall be penalised by a penalty kick, regardless of the position of the ball, as long as it is in play.

A player committing any of the following four offences:

  1. Playing in a manner considered by the referee to be dangerous, e.g. attempting to kick the ball when it is being held by the goalkeeper;

  2. when not playing the ball, intentionally obstructing an opponent, i.e. running between the opponent and the ball, or interposing the body so as to form an obstacle to the opponent;

  3. charging the goalkeeper except when he has passed outside the penalty area;

  4. when playing as a goalkeeper:

    1. after throwing the ball clear, it is not touched or played by a player or does not touch the ground in the goalkeeper's own half of the pitch;

shall be penalised by the award of an indirect free kick to the opposite team, to be taken from any point on the halfway line;

  1. touches or controls the ball with his hands after it has been deliberately kicked to him by a team-mate;

  2. following a kick-in taken by a player in his own team, the ball is directly passed to the goalkeeper, who touches or controls it with his hands;

  3. he touches or controls the ball with his hands or feet, on any part of the pitch, for more than four seconds;

  4. after releasing the ball or throwing it clear, he receives the ball from a teammate, without it first having passed beyond the halfway line or having been played or touched by an opponent

shall be penalised by the award of an indirect free kick to the opposite team, to be taken from the place where the infringement occurred, unless this was in the penalty area, in which case the indirect free kick shall be taken from the 6 m line at the place nearest to where the infringement occurred.

A player shall be cautioned if:

  1. during a "flying" substitution, he enters the pitch before the player being replaced has entirely left it, or if he enters the pitch from an incorrect position;

  2. he persistently infringes the Laws of the Game;

  3. he shows, by word or action, dissent with any decision of the referees;

  4. he is guilty of ungentlemanly conduct.

For any of these offences, the referees shall award an indirect free kick to the opposing team, to be taken from the place where the infringement occurred (unless it was committed within the penalty area, in which case the indirect free kick shall be taken from the 6 m line at the place nearest to where the infringement occurred) in addition to the relevant caution and provided that no more serious infraction of the Laws has been committed.

A player shall be sent off the pitch if, in the opinion of the referees, he:

  1. is guilty of serious foul play;

  2. is guilty of violent conduct;

  3. uses foul or abusive language;

  4. is guilty for the second time of a cautionable offence.

If play is stopped because a player is sent off the pitch for one of the offences 3 or 4, without having committed any additional infringement of the Laws, the game shall be restarted by an indirect free kick, awarded to the opposing team from the place where the infringement occurred. However, if it is committed within the penalty area, the indirect free kick shall be taken from the 6 m line at the place nearest to where the infringement occurred.

If, in the opinion of the referee, a player who is moving towards his opponents' goal with an obvious opportunity to score a goal is intentionally impeded by an opponent through unlawful means, i.e. an offence punishable by a free-kick (or a penalty kick), thus denying the attacking player's team the aforesaid goal-scoring opportunity, the offending player shall be sent off the pitch for serious foul play.

If, in the opinion of the referee, a player other than the goalkeeper within his own penalty area denies his opponents a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity by intentionally handling the ball, he shall be sent off the pitch for serious foul play.

Once expelled, the player concerned may not re-enter the game in course, nor may he sit on the substitutes' bench. His team may be completed two minutes after the expulsion, unless a goal is scored before the two minutes have elapsed. In this case the following shall apply:

  1. if there are 5 players against 4 and the team with the larger number scores a goal, the team with only 4 players may be completed;

  2. if both teams are playing with 4 players and a goal is scored, both teams shall be completed;

  3. if there are 5 players playing against 3, or 4 against 3 and the team with the larger number scores a goal, the team with 3 players may be increased by one more player only;

  4. if both teams are playing with 3 players and a goal is scored, both teams may add one more player each;

  5. if the team scoring the goal is the one with fewer players, the game shall continue without changing the number of players.

Keeping a check on the 2 minutes shall be the task of the timekeeper or, in the absence of such an official, the assistant referee. The player who enters the game as a substitute for the one sent off shall only enter when he has received the consent of the referee and when the ball is not in play.