Section 7: Violations & Penalties
Cautions and Sending-Offs (IFAB Law 12)
- Yellow card cautionable offenses: unsporting behavior, dissent, persistent infringement, delaying restart, failure to respect required distance, entering/leaving without permission
- Two yellow cards in same match = automatic red card (sent off)
- Direct red card offenses: serious foul play, violent conduct, spitting, denying obvious goal-scoring opportunity (DOGSO), offensive language
- Sent-off player cannot be replaced; team plays short for remainder of match
NCAA Suspension Framework
- Player ejected (red card) is suspended for the team's next regularly-scheduled match (one-game minimum)
- Two ejections in a season: extended suspension review
- Yellow-card accumulation: typically tracked across the season; conferences set thresholds for accumulation suspensions
- NCAA Sportsmanship Committee reviews egregious incidents independently of on-field discipline
Penalties Awarded
Direct free kicks, indirect free kicks, and penalty kicks per IFAB Law 12-14. Penalty kick from 12 yd / 11 m mark; goalkeeper must be on the goal line at the moment of release.