What are the rules regarding fouls and intent?
I know the ref can give a card if they deem the player intended to cause injury, but what about other offences?
Just wondering, as their defender clearly intended to handle the ball in the area even though he never connected with it from what I saw on the TV. Although the BBC didn't highlight it much (imagine if that had been Stones or Otamendi?).
I'm pretty certain it's not a booking for trying to handle the ball. He'd have been booked if handball had been given, but on the assumption that it wasn't handball, the ref proceeded correctly.
The main part of the laws describing things says:
A player is cautioned if guilty of:
• delaying the restart of play
• dissent by word or action
• entering, re-entering or deliberately leaving the field of play without the referee’s permission
• failing to respect the required distance when play is restarted with a corner kick, free kick or throw-in
• persistent infringement of the Laws of the Game (no specific number or pattern of infringements constitutes “persistent”)
• unsporting behaviour
There are different circumstances when a player must be cautioned for unsporting behaviour including if a player:
• attempts to deceive the referee e.g. by feigning injury or pretending to have been fouled (simulation)
• changes places with the goalkeeper during play or without the referee’s permission
• commits in a reckless manner a direct free kick offence
• commits a foul or handles the ball to interfere with or stop a promising attack
• handles the ball in an attempt to score a goal (whether or not the attempt is successful) or in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent a goal
• makes unauthorised marks on the field of play
• plays the ball when leaving the field of play after being given permission to leave
• shows a lack of respect for the game
• uses a deliberate trick to pass the ball (including from a free kick) to the goalkeeper with the head, chest, knee etc. to circumvent the Law, whether or not the goalkeeper touches the ball with the hands
• verbally distracts an opponent during play or at a restart