Discretion
The referee has a very large degree of discretion as to whether an act constitutes a cautionable offence under these very broad categories. For this reason, refereeing decisions are sometimes controversial. Other Laws may specify circumstances under which a caution should or must be given, and numerous directives to referees also provide guidance.
A change in 2004 to the Laws of the Game championed by FIFA President Sepp Blatter mandated automatic yellow cards for players who remove their shirts while celebrating goals. In addition, an instruction has been in the additional instructions at the end of the Laws of the Game for some time that should a player jump over or climb on to a perimeter fence to the Field of Play, they should be cautioned for unsporting behaviour. This was seen as mainly preventing incidents in professional football matches where crowds had rushed towards players and had led to injuries.
Read more about this topic: Foul (association Football)
Famous quotes containing the word discretion:
“We schoolmasters must temper discretion with deceit.”
—Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966)
“I cannot and do not live in the world of discretion, not as a writer, anyway. I would prefer to, I assure you—it would make life easier. But discretion is, unfortunately, not for novelists.”
—Philip Roth (b. 1933)
“All earthly things is but vanity:
Beauty, Strength, and Discretion do man forsake,
Foolish friends and kinsmen, that fair spake—
All fleeth save Good Deeds, and that am I.”
—Unknown. Everyman (l. 870–873)