Features

Rulebook in the spotlight

Author: Brandon Barker
Date: 08/11/2009
Football betting

It is every referee's job not only to ensure that games run smoothly and are under control, but also to do their level best to keep 11 men on the field at all times.

However, there are certain instances where the officials are operating with one hand tied behind their backs, specifically when it comes to the professional foul law.

As every football fan knows, if you deny a clear goalscoring opportunity - ie a striker is running clean through on goal and is brought down - then a red card is inevitable.

Yet look at recent examples in the Premier League and it becomes clear that a defender can often be punished three times for the same offence.

Take the case of Bolton's Jlloyd Samuel in his side's recent game with online betting favourites Chelsea.

The score is 0-0 with the half-time whistle approaching fast when Didier Drogba bursts through on to a defence-splitting pass.

Samuel recognises the danger, tries to cover but succeeds only in catching Drogba's heels just inside the penalty area.

The striker goes to ground, and referee Peter Walton awards a penalty and shows Samuel the red card.

Frank Lampard stands up, strokes home the spot kick and Chelsea go into the break feeling much more confident, before going on to win 4-0.

Yet Samuel's punishment does not end there as he now has to serve a one-match ban. So, in short, the red card, penalty and suspension all for one foul.

That hardly seems fair. Everyone agrees a professional foul cannot go unpunished, but I would argue there must be a sliding scale of punishment.

If a professional foul is committed outside the box, then I believe a red card must be inevitable.

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Jamie Carragher was sent off for bringing down Bobby Zamora outside the box in Fulham's 3-1 defeat of Liverpool on the same day as Samuel's red card against Chelsea.

In my view it was the correct decision, as Zamora would have had a clear run on Pepe Reina, and the free-kick was so far from goal that the chance was gone.

However, if a striker is brought down in the box and a penalty is awarded, then a goalscoring opportunity has not been prevented, it has merely been delayed. In that case, I would argue a yellow card and the award of a penalty is sufficient punishment.

If the player concerned already has a yellow card, then so be it.

It would also lessen the amount of suspensions that a club has to endure.

Players missing matches is a necessary evil, yet surely we should do what we can to ensure clubs are able to field as strong a side as possible in every game.

If it is possible to avoid red cards in any situation then every effort must be made to do so.

Samuel's absence may not have made a huge amount of difference to the outcome of the Chelsea game.

If he had been yellow-carded then Lampard would still have scored the penalty, and in all likelihood Chelsea would have gone on to win the game convincingly.

Yet punishing the full-back three times for the same offence seems more than harsh.

This may be one area in which the lawmakers can show a greater deal of understanding for players and rectify their own mistakes.

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