Cautions for unsporting behaviour
The provision as it is printed, and everything on Ruleside that turns on it.
There are different circumstances when a player must be cautioned for unsporting behaviour, including if a player:
Verdicts that turn on it 44
Walk a practice scenario to any of these and this clause is part of the answer.
- Yellow card: simulationfoul-sanction
- Penalty kick + yellow card: showing a lack of respect for the gamefoul-sanction
- Direct free kick + yellow card: showing a lack of respect for the gamefoul-sanction
- Yellow card, not red: advantage was played on a blatant holdfoul-sanction
- Yellow card for a lack of respect, and play restarts according to the previous decisionfoul-sanction
- Caution: unsporting behaviour, simulationmisconduct
- Caution: unsporting behaviourmisconduct
- Penalty kick + yellow card: stopped a promising attackfoul-sanction
- Penalty kick, no card: promising attack stopped by an attempt at the ballfoul-sanction
- Direct free kick + yellow card: stopped a promising attackfoul-sanction
- No red card: the force was negligiblefoul-sanction
- Indirect free kick: playing in a dangerous manneroff-the-ball
- An indirect or direct free kick, or a penalty kickoff-the-ball
- A direct free kick, or a penalty kickoff-the-ball
- Indirect free kickoff-the-ball
- On the nearest boundary line, and a penalty if that is inside their own areaoff-the-ball
- Indirect free kick on the nearest boundary lineoff-the-ball
- Direct free kick where the object struck, or would haveoff-the-ball
- Direct free kick, or a penalty kickoff-the-ball
- Indirect free kickoff-the-ball
- Direct free kick, or a penalty kickoff-the-ball
- Holding: a direct free kick, or a penalty kick in the offender's own areaoff-the-ball
- Yellow card, and play restarts according to the previous decisionfoul-sanction
- Handball: deliberate touch after deflectionhandball
- Handball: deliberatehandball
- Goal disallowed: scored off the scorer's own hand or armhandball
- Caution: handling in an attempt to scoremisconduct
- Handball: unnatural positionhandball
- Handball: arm extended before fallhandball
- Handball: arm above shoulder in jumphandball
- Handball: arm held unnaturally while runninghandball
- Handball: arms raised in wallhandball
- Caution: handling to stop a promising attack, unless a penalty follows a non-deliberate handballmisconduct
- Penalty kick + yellow card: denied a goal-scoring opportunity, attempt at the ballfoul-sanction
- No misconduct: nothing to cautionmisconduct
- No offence: the restriction does not apply to this passgoalkeeper-offences
- Deliberate trick: indirect free kick, and a caution for whoever initiated itgoalkeeper-offences
- Caution, and an indirect free kick: the deliberate trickmisconduct
- Caution: verbally distracting an opponentmisconduct
- Caution: showing a lack of respect for the gamemisconduct
- Caution: changing places with the goalkeeper at the wrong momentmisconduct
- Play continues, and both players are cautionedplayers
- Caution: playing the ball on the way off the fieldmisconduct
- Caution: unauthorised marks on the field of playmisconduct
Explained in the rules library 10
The plain-language pages that build on this provision.
Applied in these incidents 8
Real decisions where this clause decided what should have happened.
- Lejeune's trip on CarrerasReal Madrid vs Rayo Vallecano
- Montes's red card for the challenge on MudauMexico vs South Africa
- Chust's trip on RaphinhaElche vs Barcelona
- The hold on ZizoBelgium vs Egypt
- Maradona's Hand of God goalArgentina vs England
- Wan-Bissaka's handballClub Brugge vs Aston Villa
- Doku's fall with no contactBelgium vs Egypt
- Embolo's red cardArgentina vs Switzerland
Changed for 2026/27 1
What this provision replaced, and when it took effect.
Questions that ask it 11
Points in a walk where the reader is deciding this provision.
- Did the player exaggerate it to make the referee think they were fouled?foul-sanction
- Was there any contact from an opponent?misconduct
- Which of these was it?misconduct
- What did the offence cost the opponents?foul-sanction
- Was the offence an attempt to play the ball, or a challenge for the ball?foul-sanction
- How was the challenge made?foul-sanction
- What was the handling for?misconduct
- Did the player exaggerate the contact, or its effect, to invent an offence?misconduct
- Did the player claim a foul, by appealing for one or by going down as though fouled?misconduct
- How did the ball reach the goalkeeper from their team-mate?goalkeeper-offences
- Did a team-mate manoeuvre the ball so it could be headed or chested back?goalkeeper-offences
The Laws of the Game are published by The IFAB and quoted here for the purpose of explaining the decisions on this site. Ruleside is not affiliated with The IFAB or FIFA. Every clause of Fouls and Misconduct that Ruleside cites.