The Doc

Reading Law 12 (below) led me to Fifa's definition of "holding", which is:

Holding an opponent
Holding an opponent includes the act of preventing him from moving past or around using the hands, the arms or the body.
Referees are reminded to make an early intervention and to deal firmly with holding offences especially inside the penalty area at corner kicks and free kicks.
To deal with these situations:
? the referee must warn any player holding an opponent before the ball is in play
? caution the player if the holding continues before the ball is in play
? award a direct free kick or penalty kick and caution the player if it happens once the ball is in play
If a defender starts holding an attacker outside the penalty area and continues holding him inside the penalty area, the referee must award a penalty kick.

Basically, I don't see how the Doc is ever going to stay on the pitch if refs are going to start enforcing that!

Posted By: Old Git, Nov 17, 13:52:42