A defender recklessly challenges an attacker for the ball inside the defender’s penalty area and this foul denies the opponent an obvious goal-scoring opportunity (DOGSO). What is the sanction if the referee awards a penalty kick?

THE DECISION

The defender committed two offences listed in Law 12 under ‘Cautions for unsporting behaviour’: * a direct free kick offence committed in a reckless manner * a DOGSO offence which was a challenge for the ball and resulted in a penalty kick When more than one offence occurs at the same time, the referee punishes the more serious offence. As both offences are punishable with a yellow card, a yellow card is shown for the reckless challenge, as its physical severity is more serious than the ‘tactical’ DOGSO offence.