This is an extract from The Laws of the Game:
"A direct free kick is awarded if a player commits any of the following offences:
- a handball offence (except for the goalkeeper within their penalty area)
- holds an opponent
- impedes an opponent with contact"
Added to this, a foul becomes a penalty when a defender commits one of these offences against an opponent in the defender's penalty area.
Other guidelines are being applied though, when considering when a penalty should be awarded. Mike Riley said the following before the 2021-22 season, and these guidelines haven't been revoked. Articles at the time said this.
The Premier League will implement a higher threshold for fouls to win a penalty and offsides next season in order to create a more free-flowing game.
Mike Riley, the head of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), has revealed that officials will push back on a more forensic approach to decision-making, meaning fewer penalties and fouls will be awarded for minimal contact.
Referees will look for contact and establish clear contact, then ask themselves the question: does that contact have a consequence?” Riley said. “They will then ask themselves a question: has the player used that contact to actually try and win a foul penalty? So it’s not sufficient just to say: ‘Yes, there’s contact.’
“I think that the feedback we’ve had from players, both attackers and defenders, [is that] you want it to be a proper foul that has a consequence, not something that somebody has used slight to contact to go over, and we’ve given the penalty to reward it.”
Riley said he hoped the rules would help to persuade players to stay on their feet in the box. Under the new guidance, the penalty Raheem Sterling won for England against Denmark in the Euro 2020 semi-final would not have been given and, if it had, the decision would be expected to be overturned by VAR.
So, a higher threshold is to be applied for awarding a penalty since 2021.
The introduction to this season's amendments to the LOTG includes the following:
Foul leniency
Referee guidelines around what constitutes a foul have also been updated to hopefully reduce unnecessary stoppage.
A higher threshold will be applied to contact between players to allow the game to flow better without so many free-kicks.
So we have gone from a higher threshold in 2021 to an even higher threshold in 2023. The question is, where was Stuart Attwell when the PGMOL briefings were given?
The three pictures below are from this weekend's games.
United. Was there contact between the Forest player and Rashford? Maybe. If there was, it was minimal. Did it meet the higher threshold? Definitely not. Referring to Mike Riley's briefing, has the player used that contact to actually try and win a foul penalty? Most assuredly yes.
Aston Villa. Was there contact between the Burnley player and the Villa player? Yes. Did it meet the higher threshold? Yes, it is a clear foul to put the attacker off as he was preparing to shoot. This wasn't even looked at by VAR to my knowledge.
City (this is an example of contact that happens in every game). Was there contact between the Sheffield United player and Haaland? Yes. Did it meet the higher threshold? Yes, it is a clear foul to impede the attacker, regardless of where the ball is.
So, if the Rashford incident constituted a penalty, with minimal contact, under the Laws of the Game, every single time a defender holds an opponent while the ball is in play should result in a penalty, regardless of where the ball is or the outcome of the sequence of play (unless a goal is scored).
