Who Knew the Funny Bone Could be so Dangerous?

Photo Source:my.opera.com

Karen Carney’s red card in the 60th minute of the Chicago Red Stars game against the Washington Freedom this past Saturday marked the 3rd red card that a WPS player has received this season. Red cards aren’t the only color flying out of referee’s pockets—there have been a slew of yellow cards issued this season as well--in all a total of 69 in 35 games (as of the publication of this blog) .

Several of these yellow card cases have been the result of dangerous elbowing by a WPS player. Elbowing? Isn’t that just a physical part of the game? Apparently not.

In 2006, after several incidents of severe injury due to elbowing, as well as a study conducted by the FIFA Medical Assessment and Research Committee (F-MARC), the International Football Association Board (IFAB) and FIFA changed the Laws of the Game—any form of dangerous elbowing would result in an immediate red card.

Who was aware of this change in the rules? I certainly wasn’t. Somewhere along the way there has been a disconnect between FIFA, the IFAB, referees and the players regarding this rule.

Having already issued two suspensions due to elbowing this year, the WPS Disciplinary Committee has decided to take action and bridge this gap. After all, the player is definitely responsible for her conduct on the field, but she deserves to be taught the rules first.

For many fans the strike by Brazilian defender Leonardo, which fractured the skull of Tab Ramos at the 1994 World Cup, may be the first memorable incident involving an elbow. I mean, I always just thought elbowing was a part of the physical game of soccer. I didn’t know it could render you unconscious, as was the case in a 2006 match-up between Manchester City and Portsmouth, when defender Ben Thatcher elbowed Pedro Mendes in the head. Mendes was knocked unconscious and even required oxygen on the field after he experienced a seizure.


Perhaps a better known incident involving a stray elbow happened three months later when Italian midfielder Daniele De Rossi was immediately issued a red card and ejected from a 2006 FIFA World Cup group play match against the United States. After going up for a ball, De Rossi aggressively elbowed U.S. forward Brian McBride in the face. The cut from De Rossi’s elbow left McBride bloodied and would require three stitches.


Earlier that year, FIFA and the IFAB, while sitting down for their Annual General Meeting, had decided to change the rules. FIFA President Joseph Blatter called upon referees to “drive out this new devil, the use of the elbow as a weapon in football.” The ruling which took affect July 1st, 2006, has been in place for almost three years now and, yet, elbows are still being thrown.

It’s a problem and one that needs to be addressed especially since the WPS has also seen its share of elbowing.
But, the problem is not solely with the players. FIFA and IFAB made their ruling, printed it up in a nice and tidy book called Laws of the Game and distributed it to all the referees and 208 member associations (of which, US Soccer is one). So, the Referee Instructors and referees at US Soccer have definitely been taught the rules, but what about the players?
In fact, who actually even knew that four representatives from FIFA and one representative from each of the countries that make up the IFAB (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales) meet every February or March to discuss the Laws of the Game? I certainly didn’t.

It seems that the referees who received the official Laws of the Game booklet are up-to-date on the new rulings that FIFA and the IFAB hand down, but not the players. Especially for players coming out of college who play in the NCAA, which has its own special set of rules, it is easy to see why players may not understand the elbowing rule. They simply were never educated on it. If the players have never been taught about elbowing before how can we expect them to respect that part of the game?

With the WPS already having issued a couple of suspensions due to elbowing, the league is seeking a solution. We need to start educating the players before we immediately start punishing them. The time to educate is not after the foul has been committed as when the referee is issuing a red card or even more concerning, after someone has gotten injured, but rather in the locker room or practice before a player steps onto the field to compete.

As the foremost league employing the finest women’s players in the world, WPS agrees, and in response, will be sending out U.S. Soccer National Referee Instructors to visit every team. The licensed Referee Instructor will give a presentation similar to the one shown to all Referees and Instructors with the same videos and physical demonstrations specifically pointing out, in regards to elbowing, what is legal and what crosses the line. Every WPS player will learn what is acceptable and what is not.

“Teams have been engaged and interested [in learning about the mandate] “, said Mary Harvey, chief operating officer for Women’s Professional Soccer. “It’s about respecting the players rather than just punishing them. It’s respecting their need for information.”

We are at the midway point of the WPS’s first inaugural season. Every game from here on out is going to be a fierce battle--more competitive and more physical than before. It is very important to have the players fully educated and knowledgeable on this rule as we go into an intense second half of the season to protect Fair Play and ensure the safety of everyone involved.