New Rule Interpretation: “Negligible Force” Should Not Result in Red Card

The expulsions after the “scalings” of Häcken’s Samuel Gustafson and Christos Gravius, Degerfors, have been questioned.

An internal clarification has now gone out to nearly a hundred Swedish elite judges.

Similar events shall NOT give a red card because the force is negligible, writes the referee committee.

According to Sportbladet’s information, there was an internal discussion within the Swedish elite refereeing team after the red cards for Gravius ​​and Gustafson about how the rule regarding scalping should actually be interpreted.

Intricate in the context was also the fact that the former elite judge, with a high reputation and credibility, Jonas Eriksson, now also an expert in Discovery, stated:

– The rule book is crystal clear. Heading or attempting to head, no matter how forceful, equals a red card.

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But in the clarification that went out to nearly a hundred Swedish elite judges via their own communication platform, a different interpretation is established:

“In short, the decisive factor is how much force is used in the contact”.

The Swedish Football Association’s elite referee manager, Stefan Johannesson, confirms the clarification sent to the referees:

– We felt ourselves when we saw the pictures, is that really a red card? Jan Berg, who is our rule interpretation expert in the referee committee, has written the clarification, says Johannesson to Sportbladet.

“Fast with power – red”

Does that mean that the referees in these matches, Victor Wolff and Oscar Johnson, and Jonas Eriksson are wrong?

– I don’t want to comment on that. You can interpret what I say and what we have written in the clarification, says Johannesson and continues:

– If a player puts his head lightly against another player when the ball is not in play or the palm, without force, then it is negligible. It’s a yellow card, not a red. If the movement is fast and with force, then it justifies a red card, says Johannesson.

In the clarification to the referees, they are also asked to pay extra attention to players filming in these particular situations by handing out a warning to the reinforcement:

“… and the attacked person strongly overreacts to get the opponent sent off, a warning for inappropriate behavior is thus a possibility (…) when it is clear that it is not an injury and that “everyone” sees that it is so, so that the player’s (the filming, edited note) actions appear to be laughable’.