Besides, penalties do not necessarily result from illegal play that prevented a goal opportunity, they can also be called for dangerous play, handballs etc. The only thing that depends on the circumstances of a play is the colour of the card that is given following the foul, i.e. last defender=red card.

You say that a 53% advantage for the fouling team is ok by you. But it’s not just a 53% advantage. If fouls in the penalty area don’t get called, there would be far more fouls, leading to whichever team fouls the most getting more than a 53% advantage and, more importantly, a lot of dangerous and reckless play, possibly causing injuries.

If the police catch a man who has just stolen $1000, they don’t just make him give back the grand, they also put him in prison. Just giving back the money is the equivalent to what you seem to be aiming for: returning everything to the state it was before. However, the prison term is there to *deter* people from robbing money, or commiting cynical fouls that disrupt game-play and possibly injure players.

Now if your saying that the penalty should maybe be moved back a little, to lower the odds of scoring just a little bit, well that’s fine by me. But trying to make things so that the state of the world is identical to what it was pre-foul… that’s not the purpose of a penalty.

http://webpages.charter.net/dmarshak/WCBlog/analysis.htm

It’s part of my blog for my friends on my trip to Germany, so you can skip all the other crud if you would like. Yes, I am a referee, and yes, I like math. I find all of this discussion nteresting. The stats don’t really prove a whole lot, but they certainly suggest that some of the comments being thrown around by the press and a few coaches are nothing more than mindless blather…

Pat, you say that, “A foul is a foul, no matter where, when, and how important it is to the game.” This could not be farther from the truth. We have talked often about game management skills by referees and they obviously are more lenient within the box than, say, at midfield. The grabbing that goes on during a corner kick would not be allowed at midfield and, because of this, the players know they can get away with more. I just think it is sad to see a referee’s decision decide the game. (Perhaps this was better though than seeing the game go to PKs) I think if FIFA used video replay to fine and suspend blatant dives then this would cut down on the use of the tactic in general which would make the job of the referee easier.

My understanding of what you were saying was that Henry went down because he thought there wasn’t much of a chance for him to score staying up. If that’s so… why would the Portuguese player even do anything stupid like that? It was a dumb mistake that cost them a place in the final. The referee can’t NOT call a foul because he thinks there was no scoring chance. A foul is a foul, no matter where, when, and how important it is to the game.

JOHN’S KARATE FOOTBALL!

Mid-air kicks at opponents’ legs encouraged!

See if you can guess what every player on the pitch is intending to win a prize!

Ah, okay, so a picture showing someone getting directly kicked in the leg in the box is insufficient evidence for you but apparently we should take your MIND READING at face value. Congratulations, you are an idiot. I’m not sure exactly what league the kind of kick shown in that picture is not a foul, but you seem like an incredibly imaginative person with your mind-reading skills, so I’m sure you can entertain us all by coming up with something great.

The sad part is, things wouldn’t be this way if there were more scoring. Eliminating the error-prone offsides rule probably wouldn’t help, contrary to the previously-expressed opinion of the original poster; the consensus seems to be that it would discourage defenders from ever attacking.