Pushing an Opponent

Pushing is one of the seven offences that become a direct free kick where the referee judges them careless, reckless or made with excessive force. The opponent does not have to fall: the outcome is not the test. Inside the offender's own penalty area it is a penalty kick.^1, ^3, ^4, ^5, ¹⁰

Key points

✓Pushing is a direct free kick where it is careless, reckless or uses excessive force, on the same test as every other physical offence^1, ^3, ⁴
✓The opponent does not need to fall. The Laws judge the manner of the challenge, never its outcome^4, ⁵
✓Careless is no card, reckless is a caution, excessive force is a sending-off, so not every push is a card^4, ^5, ^6, ⁷
✓Inside the offender's own penalty area it is a penalty kick¹⁰
✓Not all contact at a set piece is pushing: both players have a right to their position, and being in the way is not the same as moving into the way⁸
✓Shoving with the hands or arms is pushing; driving in with the shoulder and body is charging, which has a fair form that a push does not^1, ^2, ^3, ^9, ¹¹

Read the full rule

Scenarios

Scenario 1

Defender pushes attacker at a corner

Penalty

As the corner comes in, a defender puts two hands into an attacker's back and shoves them out of the way.

Correct call: Penalty kick. A two-handed shove that moves an opponent out of a position they were entitled to hold is at least careless, and it is a direct free kick offence committed by a defender inside their own penalty area. Whether a card follows depends on the manner: reckless adds a caution.

Common mistake: Not giving it because both players were in contact with each other. Mutual contact is not the question. The question is whether one player moved into the way of the other and shoved them out of it.

Law^1, ^3, ^4, ^5, ^8, ¹⁰

Scenario 2

Player uses the body to block an opponent's run

Foul

A player moves across into an opponent's running line and drives into them with the upper body, with no use of the hands.

Correct call: Direct free kick. Hands are not required for a physical offence: this is charging rather than pushing, it is on the same list, and moving into the way of an opponent is the thing the Laws separate from merely being in the way. Judge it as careless, reckless or excessive force like any other.

Common mistake: Allowing it because no hands were used, or arguing about whether to call it a push or a charge. Both are on the same list and carry the same test, so the label does not change the restart.

Law^1, ^2, ^3, ^4, ⁸

Scenario 3

Minimal contact while competing for position

No foul

Two players lean into each other jockeying for space as a free kick is about to be delivered. Neither is moved out of their position.

Correct call: No offence, play continues. Both players are entitled to their position and neither has moved into the way of the other. Nothing here shows a lack of attention, consideration or precaution, so there is no careless act to penalise.

Common mistake: Giving a foul for any physical contact at a set piece. Contact is not the offence, and treating it as one would make every corner an unplayable series of free kicks.

Law^1, ^4, ^5, ⁸

The full rule

Pushing sits on the same list as charging and tripping, so it follows the same rule and not a stricter one: it is a direct free kick where the referee judges it careless, reckless or made with excessive force, and that same judgement decides the card. This matters more here than elsewhere, because pushing is the offence people most often describe as automatic. It is not. A shove made without attention, consideration or precaution is careless and is a free kick with no card; one that disregards the danger to the opponent is reckless and is cautioned; one that exceeds the necessary force or endangers their safety is a sending-off. What the Laws do make clear is that the opponent falling is not what creates the offence, because the test is the manner of the challenge throughout Law 12 and never its outcome. The place this comes up most is a crowded penalty area at a corner or free kick, where the honest position is that not all contact is pushing. Both players have a right to their position on the field, and being in the way of an opponent is not the same as moving into the way of one, which is the sentence that separates two players leaning into each other from one player shoving the other out of a space. Where the offence is committed by a defender inside their own penalty area, the restart is a penalty kick. One distinction is worth keeping straight because the words are used loosely: shoving with the hands or arms is pushing, while driving into an opponent with the shoulder and body is charging. Both are on the same list and both are judged the same way, so the label rarely changes the decision, but a charge has a fair form and a push does not.^1, ^2, ^3, ^4, ^5, ^6, ^7, ^8, ^9, ^10, ¹¹