There are some incidents in football when there is no correct answer but the referee is still called upon to make a decision.
An example is when players of opposing teams kick the ball at the same time and it goes over the touchline. The referee has to decide which team should have the throw-in. Although you take into consideration factors such as the direction the ball travelled, your decision is, at best, arbitrary. Such an incident occurred at one of my games last week. Not a great deal you might think but a player of the home team against whom I had given the throw, decided otherwise, contesting my decision in a loud voice. When I confirmed that it was the opponents throw he picked up the ball and threw it in a tantrum off the pitch, in the opposite direction to where the throw was to be taken.
In doing so of course, he committed two cautionable offences. Firstly, delaying the restart, which was particularly stupid as his team were losing at the
time - they lost the game 2-1 - and it was his own team's time he was wasting. The other offence was showing dissent.
Dissent, according to Law 12 can be by word or action. In refereeing we try to distinguish between disagreement and dissent - it would be a minor miracle if you got through a game without someone thinking you had made a mistake. What referees will act on is dissent, by word or action that seeks to, or is likely to, undermine their authority, which in this case is why the player received a caution.
For some reason my game started earlier than others in the park and, as I made my way back to the dressing room, I passed two other games still in progress. As I walked along the touchline of the first game, a player kicked the ball away after a free kick was given against him. The referee called the player towards him and gave him an obvious lecture but the yellow card stayed in his pocket. When we discussed it later in the changing room, the referee said the player didn't dispute the decision, but he was frustrated with himself for giving the free kick away. Although he could have punished the player for delaying the restart, the referee didn't feel that was the intention and therefore a card wasn't warranted.
Next, as I passed the end of the final game, I saw a player bearing down on goal from the right wing. As he reached the penalty area, he attempted to cross the ball to a team mate in the centre but the ball hit an opponent who had come across to challenge, at fairly close range. However, the ball rebounded to the winger who then crossed it to his team mate, who fluffed a fairly easy chance of a goal. With this, the winger charged across the field to the referee, who had been running the opposite diagonal, screaming that the opponent who he had kicked the ball against, had handled it and demanding a penalty.
I was probably nearer to the incident than the referee but I didn't see the handball and neither did the referee. But as he said afterwards, that was completely immaterial. Any player is entitled to appeal to the referee against his decision but charging at the referee, arms flailing, shouting at the top of his voice is not the way to go about it, so he too was on the receiving end of a yellow card.
My football experiences that afternoon illustrated a valuable lesson for players. Whether you contest a throw-in or something more serious like a penalty given or not given, it's not always what you do or say - but the way that you do it, that can decide whether you get a card.
Dick
Sawdon Smith