A defender commits a careless tackle against an attacker which stops a promising attack (SPA) in the centre circle. The attacker goes down and appears to be seriously injured. What is the correct decision?

Question

Accepted Answer

The referee stops play, awards a direct free kick and cautions (yellow card) the defender for the SPA offence. As the injury results from a physical offence for which the opponent is cautioned, the attacker may stay on the field of play after the assessment/treatment.