Red Card & Serious Foul Play

A player is sent off for serious foul play, violent conduct, denying a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity, biting or spitting at someone, offensive, insulting or abusive language or actions, a second caution in the same match, or entering the video operation room. The player is sent off and cannot be replaced.^9, ^11, ^12, ^13, ^14, ^15, ^16, ^17, ³¹

Key points

✓Serious foul play: a tackle or challenge that endangers an opponent's safety or uses excessive force or brutality, including a lunge from the front, side or behind^27, ²⁸
✓Violent conduct: the same force used or attempted when not challenging for the ball, or against anyone else, whether or not contact is made²⁹
✓Plus deliberately striking an opponent or anyone else on the head or face with the hand or arm when not challenging for the ball, unless the force used was negligible³⁰
✓DOGSO by an offence punishable by a free kick, against an opponent whose overall movement is towards the offender's goal, is a sending-off^9, ¹¹
✓Inside the offender's own area with a penalty awarded, it is a caution instead if the offence was an attempt to play the ball or a challenge for the ball^6, ^8, ¹⁹
✓Inside the area by holding, pulling, pushing or with no possibility to play the ball: sending-off, and the penalty as well¹⁹

Show the remaining 6 key points

✓Deliberate handball denying a goal or an obvious opportunity: sending-off wherever it occurs, except a goalkeeper in their own penalty area^9, ^10, ²⁰
✓Non-deliberate handball denying a goal or an obvious opportunity where a penalty is awarded: caution, not a sending-off^6, ^7, ²¹
✓DOGSO considerations: distance to goal, general direction of play, likelihood of keeping or gaining control, and the location and number of defenders and attackers^22, ^23, ^24, ^25, ²⁶
✓Advantage after a DOGSO offence makes it a caution rather than a sending-off, and no sanction at all if the non-offending team then scores³
✓A second caution in the same match is also a sending-off, and so is entering the video operation room^9, ^16, ¹⁷
✓A sent-off player must leave the vicinity of the field and the technical area and cannot be replaced^18, ³¹

Read the full rule

Scenarios

Scenario 1

Last defender pulls back attacker through on goal

Foul

An attacker breaks through one-on-one with the goalkeeper, outside the penalty area. The last outfield defender grabs their shirt to stop them.

Correct call: Sending-off for DOGSO. The offence is punishable by a free kick and the attacker's overall movement was towards the offender's goal, and the caution route applies only inside the offender's own penalty area where a penalty is awarded.

Common mistake: Only giving a yellow because the foul seemed minor. The severity of the foul is not the question, it is whether an obvious goal-scoring opportunity was denied, where, and how.

Law^9, ^11, ¹⁹

Scenario 2

Mistimed tackle denies a chance inside the area

Penalty

An attacker is through inside the penalty area. A defender slides in genuinely trying to win the ball, misses it, and brings the attacker down. A penalty is given.

Correct call: Penalty and a caution. The offence was inside the offender's own penalty area, a penalty was awarded, and it was an attempt to play the ball or a challenge for the ball, which are the three conditions the downgrade needs.

Common mistake: Showing red because a clear chance was denied. All three conditions are met here, so the sending-off becomes a caution for unsporting behaviour.

Law^6, ^8, ¹⁹

Scenario 3

High boot near opponent's face

Foul

A player challenges for a high ball with a raised boot and their studs make contact with an opponent's face.

Correct call: Sending-off for serious foul play. A challenge that endangers the safety of an opponent is enough on its own, and so is excessive force. They are two independent grounds, not one test.

Common mistake: Giving only a yellow because it looked accidental. The clause asks what the challenge did, not what the player meant.

Law^1, ^2, ²⁷

Scenario 4

Attacker fouled with the goalkeeper also covering

Foul

An attacker is through on goal, the last defender fouls them, but the goalkeeper is also back and in position.

Correct call: Judge it against the four considerations: distance to goal, general direction of play, likelihood of keeping or gaining control, and the location and number of defenders and attackers. A covering goalkeeper is one input to the last of those, not a rule that settles the question.

Common mistake: Treating the goalkeeper's presence as automatically ruling out DOGSO by counting defenders. The Laws set no headcount test, and since 2026/27 the location and number of attackers is part of the assessment too.

Law^22, ^23, ^24, ^25, ²⁶

The full rule

Serious foul play is a tackle or challenge that endangers the safety of an opponent or uses excessive force or brutality, and a lunge at an opponent in challenging for the ball from the front, from the side or from behind using one or both legs, with excessive force or endangering the opponent's safety, is named as an example of it. Violent conduct is the same kind of force used or attempted when not challenging for the ball, or used against a team-mate, team official, match official, spectator or anyone else, whether or not contact is made. It extends further: a player who, when not challenging for the ball, deliberately strikes an opponent or anyone else on the head or face with the hand or arm is guilty of violent conduct unless the force used was negligible. Denying a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity, DOGSO, has more structure than it is usually given credit for. The general rule sends off a player who denies a goal or an obvious opportunity to an opponent whose overall movement is towards the offender's goal by an offence punishable by a free kick. Where the offence is inside the offender's own penalty area and a penalty is awarded, the offender is cautioned instead if the offence was an attempt to play the ball or a challenge for the ball; in all other circumstances there, such as holding, pulling, pushing, or where there was no possibility to play the ball, the player must be sent off. Handball is treated separately: a deliberate handball offence that denies a goal or an obvious opportunity is a sending-off wherever it occurs, except for a goalkeeper inside their own penalty area, while a non-deliberate handball offence for which a penalty is awarded is a caution. Whether an obvious goal-scoring opportunity existed at all is judged against four considerations: the distance between the offence and the goal, the general direction of the play, the likelihood of keeping or gaining control of the ball, and the location and number of defenders and attackers. Attackers were added to that list for 2026/27, because supporting attackers can help establish that an opportunity existed. Advantage changes the sanction rather than delaying it. If the referee plays advantage for a DOGSO offence, the player is cautioned for unsporting behaviour rather than sent off, and if the non-offending team scores as a result there is no sanction at all. Advantage should not be applied to serious foul play, violent conduct or a second cautionable offence unless there is a clear opportunity to score. A player who has been sent off must leave the vicinity of the field of play and the technical area, and cannot be replaced, so their team plays on a player short.^3, ^4, ^5, ^9, ^11, ^18, ^19, ^20, ^21, ^22, ^23, ^24, ^25, ^26, ^27, ^28, ^29, ^30, ³¹