Writing vague sports rules and regulations and allowing the referee to make up the rules as he goes along is recipe for disaster and invites corruption and bribery of referees into world soccer.
One of the most contentious issues in any sport occurs when players collide on the field.
This results in judgments by the referee which often are called into question, such as the World Cup 2006 quarterfinal Italy-Australia collision between Grosso and Neill which, with the score 0-0, was called a Penalty, with literally seconds left to play in the match. This one call Decided the outcome of this match in Italy's favor. Without this call, Italy would never have come anywhere near the World Cup Final and the world of soccer would be much the better for it.
There is simply no detail in the FIFA rule-book on this subject. Compare this to a sport like Basketball, there is a huge difference in the determination of the US National Basketball buttociation (NBA) to prevent corrupt referees from being able to take bribes and Fix matches by misconstruing purposely the rules in this area.
John
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BLOCK-CHARGE A defensive player is permitted to establish a legal guarding position in the path of a dribbler regardless of his speed and distance. A defensive player is not permitted to move into the path of an offensive play-er once he has started his shooting motion. A defensive player must allow a moving player the distance to stop or change direction when the offensive player receives a pbutt outside the lower defensive box. A defensive player must allow an alighted player the distance to land and then stop or change direction when the offensive player is outside the lower defensive box. A defensive player is permitted to establish a legal guarding position in the path of an offensive player who receives a pbutt inside the lower defensive box regardless of his speed and distance. A defensive player must allow an alighted player who receives a pbutt the space to land when the offensive player is inside the lower defensive box. A defensive player must allow a moving offensive player without the ball the distance to stop or change direction. The speed of the offensive player will determine the amount of distance a defensive player must allow. If an offensive player causes contact with a defensive player who has estab-lished a legal position, an offensive foul shall be called and no points may be scored. A defensive player may turn slightly to protect himself, but is never allowed to bend over and submarine an opponent. An offensive foul should never be called if the contact is with a secondary defensive player who has established a defensive position within a designated "restricted area" near the basket for the purpose of drawing an offensive foul. The "restricted area" for this purpose is the area bounded by an arc with a 4-foot radius measured from the middle of the basket. EXCEPTION: Any player may be legally positioned within the "restricted area" if the offensive player receives the ball within the Lower Defensive Box. The mere fact that contact occurs on these type of plays, or any other similar play, does not necessarily mean that a personal foul has been committed. The offi-cials must decide whether the contact is negligible and-or incidental, judging each situation separately. ========================================================
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more NBA rules details about fouls and holding, impeding here
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John
