[Nevadaref]

Originally Posted by wardtc

What is your opinion on this play? I was working the line (parents side of course). The attacker is on a break away. Enters the penalty area dribbling the ball. The keeper rushes to meet him, collects the ball, and his momentum takes out the attacker, literally just knocks him off his feet. The center ref calls a trip on the keeper and sets up a penalty kick. The defending team parents go beserk, claiming it is the keepers box, and there should not have been a foul called. From my perspective it looked like the keeper was playing the ball, but his momentum did cause the attacker to go down.

Without seeing the play, it is really not possible for me to make a decision on the play, however, I will give you some information from the USSF Advice to Referees on the Laws of the Game (2005 version) and you can reflect upon the play and come to your own conclusion in light of these clips.
(Also, if you don't have this book you definitely need to go to this link and download a copy, then read the entire thing! You will learn a ton.
http://www.ussoccer.com/laws/index.jsp.html )

(All colored emphasis is mine.)

12.1 WHAT IS A FOUL?
A foul is an unfair or unsafe action committed by a player against an opponent or the opposing team, on the field of play, while the ball is in play. Deliberate handling of the ball is committed against the opposing team, not against a particular opponent. If any of these three requirements is not met, the action is not a foul; however, the action can still be misconduct.
Under the terms of Law 12, the word "deliberate" in the sense of deliberately committing a foul does not mean that the player intentionally set out to kick, push, trip, hold or otherwise foul the opponent.
If that were so, the referee would have to be capable of reading a player's mind. Under Law 12, the referee makes a decision based upon what he or she sees a player actually do — the result of the player’s action — not upon what might be in the player's mind.

12.2 THE DIRECT FREE KICK FOULS
Ten offenses are described in Law 12 for which, if play is stopped as a result, the restart is a direct free kick (or a penalty kick if committed by a team within its own penalty area). These offenses are referred to as direct free kick fouls. They are divided into two groups:

1. Six actions (kick, trip, jump at, charge, strike, or push, including the attempt to kick, trip, or strike) for which the referee must evaluate how the act was committed; and

2. Four actions (making contact with an opponent during a tackle prior to contacting the ball, holding, spitting, deliberately handling the ball) for which the referee need only decide if the act occurred.

Referees should not punish actions that are accidental or inadvertent. In the case of the first group, the action becomes an offense only if the referee decides that it was committed carelessly, recklessly, or with excessive force. In the case of the second group, the action alone is an offense, no matter how it was committed.


12.3 CARELESS, RECKLESS, INVOLVING EXCESSIVE FORCE[/font]
"Careless" indicates that the player has not exercised due caution in making a play.
"Reckless" means that the player has made unnatural movements designed to intimidate an opponent or to gain an unfair advantage.
"Involving excessive force" means that the player has far exceeded the use of force necessary to make a fair play for the ball and has placed the opponent in considerable danger of bodily harm.
If the foul was careless, simply a miscalculation of strength or a stretch of judgment by the player who committed it, then it is a normal foul, requiring only a direct free kick (and possibly a stern talking-to).
If the foul was reckless, clearly outside the norm for fair play, then the referee must award the direct free kick and also caution the player for unsporting behavior, showing the yellow card. If the foul involved the use of excessive force, totally beyond the bounds of normal play, then the referee must send off the player for serious foul play or violent conduct, show the red card, and award the direct free kick to the opposing team.



12.4 TRIPPING
Tripping or attempting to trip an opponent includes those situations in which the player moves under the opponent and uses the body to upset or upend the opponent. This is also known as "bridging."
Referees must carefully distinguish an act of tripping from the fact of being tripped. Tripping or attempting to trip is an offense if it is clearly directed at an opponent and causes the opponent to falter or fall. Players, however, may trip over or fall over an opponent as a result of natural play and no infringement of the Law has been committed.


12.8 MAKING CONTACT WITH THE OPPONENT
Making contact with the opponent before the ball when making a tackle is unfair and should be penalized. However, the fact that contact with the ball was made first does not automatically mean that the tackle is fair. The declaration by a player that he or she has played the ball is irrelevant if, while tackling for the ball, the player carelessly, recklessly, or with excessive force commits any of the prohibited actions.
A foul committed while tackling an opponent with little or no concern for the safety of the opponent shall be cause for the player to be sent from the field and shown the red card for serious foul play.