Football Laws of the Game
Senior 6 · Physical Education
Football Laws of the Game
Lesson 2 of 4
25 min
A defender slides in and catches an attacker's ankle. If the tackle was simply mistimed, it is a free kick. If he ignored the danger to his opponent, it is also a yellow card. If he used far more force than needed, it is a red card. The contact looks the same on a photograph; the decision depends on how the referee judges the manner of the challenge. In Senior 3 you learned the basic offside and foul rules. This lesson applies Laws 11 and 12 of the IFAB Laws of the Game 2026–27 to the hard cases: degrees of force, handball, deliberate play and offside after deflections.
Definition
Careless: a challenge made without attention or consideration, or without precaution. Free kick only.
Reckless: acting with disregard to the danger to, or consequences for, an opponent. Free kick and caution (yellow card).
Excessive force: far more force than necessary, endangering the safety of an opponent. Free kick and sending-off (red card): serious foul play when challenging for the ball.
Deliberate play: a player in control of the ball who could pass, gain possession or clear it. A deliberate play by a defender, except a deliberate save, cancels an attacker's offside position.
| Direct free kick (penalty if by a defender in his own penalty area) | Indirect free kick |
|---|---|
| Charges, jumps at, kicks, pushes, strikes, tackles or trips an opponent carelessly, recklessly or with excessive force | Plays in a dangerous manner (no contact), such as a high foot near a head |
| Holds an opponent, or impedes an opponent with contact | Impedes an opponent without contact |
| Handball (not the goalkeeper in his own penalty area) | Dissent or offensive language; preventing the goalkeeper from releasing the ball |
| Bites or spits at someone; throws an object at the ball, an opponent or an official | Goalkeeper handles a deliberate kick from a team-mate or the ball straight from a team-mate's throw-in |
It is an offence to touch the ball deliberately with a hand or arm (including moving the hand or arm towards the ball), or when the hand or arm has made the body unnaturally bigger. It is also an offence to score directly from your own hand or arm, even accidentally. The arm begins at the bottom of the armpit: a ball off the shoulder is not handball. A ball that strikes an arm held close to the body, or an arm used to support the body in a fall, is usually not an offence.
An offside position is judged at the moment a team-mate plays or touches the ball: the player is in the opponents' half and any part of the head, body or feet is nearer the goal line than both the ball and the second-last opponent. In the diagram B is in an offside position; C, level with D1, is not. B commits an offence only by becoming involved:
There is no offside offence from a goal kick, throw-in or corner kick. Where a competition uses semi-automated offside technology, cameras track the players' limbs and produce the line for the video assistant referee.
Worked example
Worked example 1: deflection or deliberate play? In the diagram, A shoots instead of passing.
Worked example 2: degrees of force
| Challenge | Judgement | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| A late tackle that clips the heel of an attacker running away from goal | Careless | Direct free kick |
| A lunge from the side with no chance of reaching the ball, catching the shin | Reckless | Direct free kick and caution |
| A two-footed jump with studs up at knee height | Excessive force: serious foul play | Direct free kick and sending-off |
| Elbowing an opponent in the face when the ball is not near | Violent conduct (not a challenge for the ball) | Sending-off; direct free kick if on the field and the ball in play |
Tip
Exam technique. For any offside question answer three things in order: (1) Where was he when the team-mate played the ball? (2) Did he become involved, and how? (3) What is the restart, and where? For a foul, name the manner (careless, reckless, excessive force) before the sanction.
Warning
Common mistakes. Being in an offside position is not an offence. A goalkeeper's save does not reset offside, but a defender's deliberate pass does. A player cannot be offside in his own half. Players level with the second-last opponent are onside.
Practice
Remember
Sources and credits
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
