Fouls and Misconduct

1. Direct free kicks and force

Free kicks and penalties for offences require the ball to be in play. A careless, reckless or excessively forceful charge, jump at an opponent, kick or attempted kick, push, strike or attempted strike, tackle, challenge, trip or attempted trip is punished with a direct free kick. An offence involving contact is direct.

Carelessness does not require a card. Recklessness requires a caution. Excessive force or endangering an opponent requires a sending-off.

• Other direct-free-kick offences include handball, holding, obstruction with contact, biting or spitting at a listed participant or match official.
• Throwing an object at the ball, opponent or official, or touching the ball with a held object, is also a direct-free-kick offence.

1. Handball

Not every contact with a hand or arm is an offence. The relevant arm boundary is level with the bottom of the armpit. Penalise deliberate hand/arm contact or contact when the arm position makes the body unnaturally bigger and is not justified by the movement in that situation.

A player cannot score directly with a hand or arm, even accidentally, nor immediately after the ball touches their own hand or arm. This also applies to a goalkeeper scoring in the opposing goal.

Outside their penalty area, goalkeepers have the same handling restrictions as everyone else. Prohibited handling inside their own area normally gives an indirect free kick without a card. A goalkeeper's second-touch offence after a restart, however, can require a card for stopping a promising attack or denying a goal or obvious opportunity.

2. Indirect-free-kick offences

• Dangerous play without contact, or impeding an opponent without contact.
• Dissent, offensive/insulting/abusive language or actions, and other verbal offences.
• Preventing the goalkeeper from releasing the ball, or kicking/attempting to kick it during release.
• Using a deliberate head, chest, knee or similar trick to bypass the goalkeeper back-pass restriction, whether or not the goalkeeper handles it; penalise the goalkeeper if they initiated the trick.
• Other offences for which the referee stops play to caution or send off a player and no different restart is specified.
• A goalkeeper handling again inside their area after release and before another player touches the ball.
• A goalkeeper handling a deliberate team-mate kick or direct team-mate throw-in, unless they have clearly kicked or attempted to kick the ball to put it into play.

2. Dangerous play and obstruction

Dangerous play threatens injury while trying to play the ball, including deterring a nearby opponent through fear of injury. A bicycle or scissors kick is legal if it does not endanger an opponent.

Obstruction means moving into an opponent's path when neither can play the ball. Simply occupying a position is different. A player may shield a ball within playing distance without holding the opponent off with body or arms; a fair charge remains possible.

3. Eight-second goalkeeper limit

A goalkeeper who controls the ball with hands or arms inside their penalty area for more than eight seconds concedes a corner. The referee decides when control begins and displays the final five seconds with a raised hand.

Control includes trapping the ball between hands/arms or against the ground or body, holding it on an open outstretched hand, bouncing it, or tossing it in the air. An opponent cannot challenge while the goalkeeper has this control.

4. Disciplinary authority and delayed cards

The referee's disciplinary authority runs from the pre-match field inspection until leaving after the match, including a shoot-out. A pre-match sending-off offence can prevent participation; other misconduct is reported. Yellow and red cards may be shown only to players, substitutes, substituted players and team officials.

Normally a decided card is shown before restarting. A quick free kick may proceed if there is a clear scoring opportunity and the disciplinary procedure has not begun. Show the card at the next stoppage: DOGSO then becomes a caution and stopping a promising attack alone no longer warrants a caution.

4. Advantage and continuing offences

After advantage, normally administer the warranted card at the next stoppage. For DOGSO, caution instead; if that advantage produces a goal for the non-offending side, no disciplinary sanction is required for DOGSO. No caution is required solely for stopping a promising attack when advantage succeeds.

Avoid advantage for serious foul play, violent conduct or a second caution unless there is a clear scoring chance. Send the player off at the next stoppage; if they first play the ball or challenge/interfere with an opponent, stop play, send them off and award an indirect free kick unless a more serious offence dictates the restart.

Holding that begins outside the penalty area and continues inside it produces a penalty.

4. Cautionable offences

Two separate cautionable offences require two cautions even if committed close together. There is no fixed number or pattern defining persistent offending.

• Players: delaying restarts, dissent, unauthorised entry/re-entry or deliberate departure, failure to respect restart distances, persistent offences, unsporting behaviour, entering the referee review area, or excessive TV-review gestures.
• Substitutes and substituted players: delaying restarts, dissent, unauthorised entry/re-entry, unsporting behaviour, entering the review area or excessive TV-review gestures.

4. Unsporting behaviour

• Examples requiring a caution include simulation, an unauthorised goalkeeper exchange, a reckless direct-free-kick offence, unauthorised field markings, playing the ball while leaving with permission, disrespect for the game and verbal distraction.
• Handball to score earns a caution whether successful or not. Handball stopping a promising attack earns a caution except a non-deliberate handball punished by a penalty.
• Other promising-attack offences earn a caution except when a penalty is awarded for an attempt to play or challenge for the ball.
• DOGSO punished by a penalty earns a caution for non-deliberate handball or an attempt to play/challenge for the ball.
• The person initiating a deliberate trick to evade goalkeeper handling restrictions is cautioned, including the goalkeeper when responsible.

4. Celebrations and delay

Celebrations must not cause excessive delay. Leaving the field to celebrate alone is not cautionable, but players should return promptly.

Caution for unsafe spectator approaches or fence-climbing, provocative or mocking conduct, a mask or similar face/head covering, or removing the shirt or covering the head with it—even if the goal is disallowed.

Caution excessive restart delays under the relevant substitution, throw-in and goal-kick rules, kicking/carrying the ball away, deliberately touching it to provoke confrontation after a stoppage, or taking a free kick from the wrong place to force a retake.

4. Sending-off offences

A sent-off player, substitute or substituted player must leave the field's vicinity and the technical area.

• Deliberate handball denying a goal or obvious opportunity, except a goalkeeper inside their own penalty area.
• Non-deliberate handball denying a goal or obvious opportunity outside the offender's penalty area.
• A free-kick offence denying an obvious opportunity to an opponent moving generally towards goal, subject to the penalty-area exceptions.
• Serious foul play, violent conduct, biting or spitting, offensive/insulting/abusive language or actions, a second caution, or entering the video operation room.

4. DOGSO decisions

For an offence against an opponent in the offender's penalty area that leads to a penalty, caution if it was an attempt to play or challenge for the ball. Send off for holding, pulling, pushing or an offence with no possibility of playing the ball.

Deliberate handball DOGSO requires dismissal wherever it occurs, except for a goalkeeper in their own area. Non-deliberate handball DOGSO leading to a penalty requires a caution. Unauthorised entry by a player, substitute, substituted or sent-off player that interferes and denies a goal or obvious opportunity is a sending-off offence.

Assess distance to goal, direction of play, likelihood of gaining or retaining control, and both the number and positions of defenders and attackers.

4. Serious foul play and violent conduct

A tackle or challenge is serious foul play if it endangers an opponent or uses excessive force or brutality. This includes one- or two-legged lunges from any direction.

Violent conduct is using or attempting excessive force or brutality when not challenging for the ball, against any person; contact is not required. Deliberately striking someone's head or face with a hand or arm outside a ball challenge is violent conduct unless the force is negligible.

A recklessly thrown object or ball warrants a caution; excessive force warrants dismissal for violent conduct.

4. Team officials

If misconduct originates from the technical area and the offender cannot be identified, sanction the senior coach present.

• Usually warn for respectful, non-confrontational field entry, poor cooperation with officials, minor disagreement or occasional technical-area departure. Repetition or blatant conduct may escalate.
• Caution for persistent technical-area breaches, delaying their own team's restart, non-confrontational entry to the opposing technical area, dissent such as object-throwing or sarcastic applause, entering the referee review area, excessive requests for cards or reviews, provocative conduct, repeated unacceptable behaviour or disrespect.
• Send off for delaying the opponents' restart, deliberately leaving the technical area to confront an official or provoke, aggressive entry to the opposing technical area, deliberately throwing/kicking an object onto the pitch, or entering the pitch to confront officials or interfere.
• Also send off for entering the video operation room, physical/aggressive behaviour, biting/spitting, a second caution, abusive language/actions, unauthorised electronic/communication equipment or inappropriate behaviour resulting from its use, and violent conduct.

5. Restart after misconduct

If the ball was already out, keep the previously required restart. With the ball in play, physical offences on the field against opponents give the appropriate indirect/direct free kick or penalty. Physical offences against team-mates, other listed team participants or match officials give a direct free kick or penalty. Verbal offences give an indirect free kick.

For a player's offence against an outside agent, restart with a dropped ball unless an indirect free kick applies for leaving without permission; that kick is on the boundary where the player left.

For a player's off-field offence against opposing team participants or officials, or an off-field offence/interference by a substitute, substituted/sent-off player or team official against an opponent or official, use the nearest boundary point. A direct-free-kick offence at a point inside the offender's penalty area gives a penalty.

A player's off-field offence against their own team's player, substitute, substituted player or official gives an indirect free kick at the nearest boundary.

5. Objects and interference

Touching the ball with a hand-held object gives a direct free kick or penalty. For the specified thrown or kicked object offences against an opponent, opposing team participant, official or match ball, use where the object hit or would have hit. If off-field, use the nearest boundary; award a penalty when that point is in the offender's penalty area.

If a substitute, substituted/sent-off player, temporarily absent player or official throws/kicks an object onto the field and it interferes, award a direct free kick or penalty where it interfered or hit/would have hit the ball, opponent or official.

28 April 2026 competition options

These additional IFAB options were approved on 28 April 2026 and apply only when adopted by the competition. They supplement the supplied PDF and are not universal requirements. Source: IFAB, latest Law changes.

• Send off a player, substitute or substituted player who covers their mouth while communicating with an opponent in a provocative, derisory or inflammatory manner or situation.
• Send off a player who leaves the field in protest at a referee decision.
• Send off a player, substitute or team official who instructs or encourages players to leave the field in protest at a referee decision.