The major talking point amongst Royal’s supporters in the past week has been what many felt the harsh sending-off of André Bikey against Cardiff.
One of the problems with the Laws of the Game is that they are written with stark simplicity so that over the years interpretations have been needed to ensure some consistency in applying the laws.
If we therefore take the case of ‘jumping at an opponent’, what the Law says is, ‘ a direct free kick is awarded if a player jumps at an opponent, in a manner considered by the referee to be careless, reckless or using excessive force’. Of course it is perfectly legitimate to jump for the ball but it is jumping at an opponent that is the offence. When two opponents jump for the same ball it may sometimes result in one of the players being knocked to the ground. The referee then has to make the decision whether the player jumped for the ball or went for the opponent.
Most referees find this easily to ascertain by watching the player’s eyes. If the player’s eyes were on the ball then it is perfectly acceptable to believe he was going for the ball, however, if he is looking at the opponent it could fairly be considered that his target was the opponent.
So far, so simple. However, what has concerned FIFA in recent years has been players running in from some way away to make the jump when an opponent is also jumping for the ball. In these cases, the jump may be considered reckless, in that the player has acted with disregard to the danger or the possible consequences of his action for his opponent. This, we are told,
should be penalised by a caution.
Of course depending on the distance and the speed with which the jump is made it might even be considered that the player used excessive force. This means that he has exceeded the necessary use of force and is in danger of injuring his opponent. If the referee considers this to be the case then the player
must be sent off even though he went for the ball and possibly headed it.
There is also another dimension to jumping for the ball and that is the use of the hands or arms by the player. It is, of course, virtually impossible to make a jump without using the arms but it is not permissible for a player to use the arms to lever himself up on the shoulder of an opponent. This would be counted as holding, holding the opponent down. The real concern, however, is when players make the jump, particularly from a distance, leading with the arm. If this then hits the opponent it become striking.
Some people seem to assume that striking is only with the fist, punching in other words, but it can be carried out with the arm or elbow or even with the head. Who will forget Zidane’s head butt to the chest of an Italian opponent towards the end of the World Cup in 2006? That was striking.
But it is the arm that is likely to be used when jumping and in some cases it is obviously deliberate, but under the Laws of the Game it doesn’t have to be intentional. People have said there was no malicious intent by Bikey. The referee does not have to consider what the players intention was, only what happened.
As Steve Coppell has said, it is not possible from the television replays to see what actually happened. When jumping for the ball did Bikey strike the Cardiff player however unintentional? Who knows but I think it can be seen that there are many considerations which a referee has to take into account before making his decision.
Dick Sawdon Smith
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© R Sawdon Smith 2008