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Professional foul
In various sports, a professional foul is a deliberate act of foul play intended to bring about an advantage for the perpetrator's team. Professional fouls are usually committed to prevent an opponent from scoring.
Various sports contain provisions in their rules to dissuade such acts. These either try to negate the advantage gained from such an act or apply additional punishments beyond those for an equivalent foul in normal circumstances.
In association football, a professional foul involves a defender committing a foul in order to prevent the opponents from scoring, or to deny an obvious goal-scoring opportunity (DOGSO). The resulting free kick or penalty may offer the attacking team a lower chance of scoring than the original playing position, and the defending player therefore has an incentive to tactically commit the foul. Offending players are cautioned or sent off in accordance with the circumstances of the foul, with the punishment dependent upon both the nature of the foul and the opportunity denied to the opposition by it.
Under Law 12, what constitutes an obvious goalscoring opportunity is left to the discretion of the referee; however, several factors are given to help referees decide. These are the distance between the offence and the goal, the likelihood of keeping or gaining control of the ball, the direction of the play, and the location and number of defenders.
The concept gained attention in association football after an incident in the 1980 FA Cup Final when Willie Young of Arsenal committed a deliberate foul on Paul Allen of West Ham United, when Allen had a clear chance to score. As the Laws of the Game stood at the time, referee George Courtney could only caution Young and award West Ham a free kick, which he did. This provoked a national debate on deliberate fouls that denied opponents a clear run at goal.
At the time, the English game was suffering a downturn in attendances and the chairmen of the Football League clubs decided to consider ways in which the game could be made more exciting. A subcommittee was appointed to produce some suggestions, chaired by Jimmy Hill and including Matt Busby and Bobby Charlton.[citation needed] They recommended in 1982 that if the referee judges that a foul on an attacking player prevents an obvious scoring opportunity, the referee should issue the offending player a straight red card for "serious foul play" in order to deter offenders. However, the FA's refereeing committee abolished the rule in July 1983. The rule was finally fixed into the Laws of the Game by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) in 1990, and FIFA instructed referees working the 1990 World Cup to send players off for a DOGSO offence. In 1991 the IFAB made an addition which deemed that a player who committed a handling offence that denied an obvious goal-scoring opportunity should be sent off for serious foul play. For example, a goalkeeper who handles the ball outside the box can be sent off if it results in a DOGSO.
In 2016 the Laws of the Game were amended so that a foul resulting in a penalty kick would only result in a yellow card – providing that the player was making a genuine attempt for the ball – in order to reduce the "double jeopardy" of both a red card and a penalty kick. Referees are still permitted to send players off for serious misconduct committed in the penalty area, such as those where no attempt to legally play the ball was made.
In American football, the rules regarding unfair acts empower officials to enforce additional penalties so as to counteract the potential benefit a team may gain from a major or repeated foul.
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Professional foul
In various sports, a professional foul is a deliberate act of foul play intended to bring about an advantage for the perpetrator's team. Professional fouls are usually committed to prevent an opponent from scoring.
Various sports contain provisions in their rules to dissuade such acts. These either try to negate the advantage gained from such an act or apply additional punishments beyond those for an equivalent foul in normal circumstances.
In association football, a professional foul involves a defender committing a foul in order to prevent the opponents from scoring, or to deny an obvious goal-scoring opportunity (DOGSO). The resulting free kick or penalty may offer the attacking team a lower chance of scoring than the original playing position, and the defending player therefore has an incentive to tactically commit the foul. Offending players are cautioned or sent off in accordance with the circumstances of the foul, with the punishment dependent upon both the nature of the foul and the opportunity denied to the opposition by it.
Under Law 12, what constitutes an obvious goalscoring opportunity is left to the discretion of the referee; however, several factors are given to help referees decide. These are the distance between the offence and the goal, the likelihood of keeping or gaining control of the ball, the direction of the play, and the location and number of defenders.
The concept gained attention in association football after an incident in the 1980 FA Cup Final when Willie Young of Arsenal committed a deliberate foul on Paul Allen of West Ham United, when Allen had a clear chance to score. As the Laws of the Game stood at the time, referee George Courtney could only caution Young and award West Ham a free kick, which he did. This provoked a national debate on deliberate fouls that denied opponents a clear run at goal.
At the time, the English game was suffering a downturn in attendances and the chairmen of the Football League clubs decided to consider ways in which the game could be made more exciting. A subcommittee was appointed to produce some suggestions, chaired by Jimmy Hill and including Matt Busby and Bobby Charlton.[citation needed] They recommended in 1982 that if the referee judges that a foul on an attacking player prevents an obvious scoring opportunity, the referee should issue the offending player a straight red card for "serious foul play" in order to deter offenders. However, the FA's refereeing committee abolished the rule in July 1983. The rule was finally fixed into the Laws of the Game by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) in 1990, and FIFA instructed referees working the 1990 World Cup to send players off for a DOGSO offence. In 1991 the IFAB made an addition which deemed that a player who committed a handling offence that denied an obvious goal-scoring opportunity should be sent off for serious foul play. For example, a goalkeeper who handles the ball outside the box can be sent off if it results in a DOGSO.
In 2016 the Laws of the Game were amended so that a foul resulting in a penalty kick would only result in a yellow card – providing that the player was making a genuine attempt for the ball – in order to reduce the "double jeopardy" of both a red card and a penalty kick. Referees are still permitted to send players off for serious misconduct committed in the penalty area, such as those where no attempt to legally play the ball was made.
In American football, the rules regarding unfair acts empower officials to enforce additional penalties so as to counteract the potential benefit a team may gain from a major or repeated foul.