Tripping an Opponent

Tripping or attempting to trip an opponent is a direct free kick where the referee judges it careless, reckless or made with excessive force. The Laws name the attempt as well as the act, so the opponent does not have to go down. Inside the offender's own penalty area it is a penalty kick.^1, ^3, ^4, ¹⁰

Key points

✓Tripping or attempting to trip is a direct free kick where it is careless, reckless or uses excessive force^1, ^3, ⁴
✓The Laws name the attempt as well as the act, so the opponent does not need to go down^1, ³
✓Intent is not the test. Careless is a lack of attention, consideration or precaution, which a player can show without meaning to trip anyone^4, ⁵
✓A sliding tackle that takes the opponent rather than the ball is judged on the same three words as any other challenge^1, ^2, ⁴
✓Winning the ball first does not settle it: a follow-through that then takes the opponent is judged the same way^1, ^4, ⁶
✓Inside the offender's own penalty area it is a penalty kick¹⁰
✓A lunge with one or both legs using excessive force or endangering safety is serious foul play, not a trip^8, ⁹

Read the full rule

Scenarios

Scenario 1

Sliding tackle catches the opponent's ankle

Foul

A defender slides in, misses the ball, and takes the attacker's ankle.

Correct call: Direct free kick, and a penalty if it happens inside the defender's own area. Sliding into an opponent without getting the ball is at least a lack of precaution, which is careless. Where the challenge disregarded the danger to the opponent it is reckless and a caution, and where it endangered their safety it is a sending-off.

Common mistake: Allowing play because the tackle looked committed and genuine, or because the defender did not mean it. Neither commitment nor intent is one of the three words the Laws use.

Law^1, ^2, ^3, ^4, ^5, ^6, ¹⁰

Scenario 2

Player extends a leg and the opponent goes over it

Foul

A player sticks out a leg into an opponent's path. The opponent stumbles over it, with barely any contact.

Correct call: Direct free kick. Putting a leg into a running line is an attempt to trip whether or not it connects, and the Laws name the attempt alongside the act.

Common mistake: Waving it away because the contact was minimal. Slight contact goes to whether a card is warranted, not to whether the offence happened.

Law^1, ^3, ^4, ⁵

Scenario 3

Player wins the ball cleanly and the follow-through trips the opponent

No foul

A defender plays the ball away cleanly and the trailing leg then catches the attacker.

Correct call: Judged on the same three words as anything else, and it can land either side. An unavoidable follow-through after a controlled challenge shows no lack of precaution and is not an offence. A follow-through that was reckless is a direct free kick and a caution even though the ball was won first.

Common mistake: Treating winning the ball as a complete answer. The Laws never make ball contact a defence, which is why a clean touch followed by a dangerous follow-through is still an offence.

Law^1, ^3, ^4, ^5, ^6, ⁷

The full rule

The Laws list this offence as trips or attempts to trip, and both halves of that matter. Naming the attempt means the offence is complete whether or not the opponent actually falls, so a leg put into a running line that the opponent hurdles is the same offence as one they go over. Like the other six physical offences it is not automatic: it is a direct free kick where the referee judges it careless, reckless or made with excessive force, and those three words then set the card at none, a caution or a sending-off. What the test does not ask about is intent. Careless is a lack of attention or consideration, or acting without precaution, and a player can meet that description without meaning to trip anyone, which is why 'he didn't mean it' answers a question the Laws never pose. It cuts the other way too: meaning to trip someone is not needed to reach reckless, only disregard for the danger or consequences. A sliding tackle that takes the opponent rather than the ball is the common form, and getting the ball first does not settle it either, since a follow-through that then takes the opponent is judged on the same three words as any other contact. Where the offence is committed by a defender inside their own penalty area, the restart is a penalty kick. And a lunge from the front, the side or from behind using one or both legs, made with excessive force or endangering an opponent's safety, has left this ladder entirely and is serious foul play.^1, ^2, ^3, ^4, ^5, ^6, ^7, ^8, ^9, ¹⁰

The law · numbered to match the references above

Law 12 · 1. Direct free kick

1A direct free kick is awarded if a player commits any of the following offences against an opponent in a manner considered by the referee to be careless, reckless or using excessive force:

2tackles or challenges

3trips or attempts to trip

4If an offence involves contact, it is penalised by a direct free kick.

5Careless is when a player shows a lack of attention or consideration when making a challenge or acts without precaution. No disciplinary sanction is needed

6Reckless is when a player acts with disregard to the danger to, or consequences for, an opponent and must be cautioned

7Using excessive force is when a player exceeds the necessary use of force and/or endangers the safety of an opponent and must be sent off

Law 12 · Serious foul play

8A tackle or challenge that endangers the safety of an opponent or uses excessive force or brutality must be sanctioned as serious foul play.

9Any player who lunges 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 endangers the safety of an opponent is guilty of serious foul play.

Law 14

10A penalty kick is awarded if a player commits a direct free kick offence inside their penalty area or off the field as part of play as outlined in Laws 12 and 13.

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