Crowella wrote:A free kick is awarded to the opposing team if a player "kicks or attempts to kick an opponent" or "trips or attempts to trip an opponent". That is NOT the same as a free kick being awarded for falling over. There are so many circumstances where people have tripped over after losing the ball in a valid play. That happens.
I see you didn't pick up on my cynicism.
When I watch football these days, I see referees giving free kicks against a tackling player who hasn't kicked or tripped (or attempted to) the player with the ball. They appear to give a free kick because the tackled player simply fell over. There is no other explanation because it wasn't foul play by any other standard.
Even worse, referees give free kicks to the player that fell over even though neither player was in possession, but both were challenging for it.
The way it appears, therefore, to my cynical mind is that referees give free kicks to players that fall over whether they have been fouled or not. Accordingly, players simply fall over to get a free kick.
One gets the behaviour that one rewards. If referees didn't reward people that "simulated", but instead penalised it by the law (see the example on page 123 of Law 12) players wouldn't get any advantage from falling over when they didn't need to. Spectators want to see a challenge for the ball and play continue, If a player falls over, then that's their problem. If a player is ACTUALLY fouled, then its a free kick. If its a foul for tactical purposes or repeated offences then its a free kick and a booking.
I think that if a player is so badly hurt that play has to stop and the trainer called on, the player should be removed from the field for a minimum of 5 minutes. If the player gets up and continues play, they should be booked for unsporting behaviour.
The current application of the rules by referees makes football boring.