A foul is an unfair act by a player, deemed by the referee to contravene the game’s laws, that interferes with the active play of the game. Fouls are punished by the award of a free kick (possibly a penalty kick to the opposing team. A list of specific offences that can be fouls are detailed in Law 12 of the Laws of the Game (other infractions, such as technical infractions at restarts, are not deemed to be foul; these mostly concern unnecessarily aggressive physical play and the offence of handling the ball. An infringement is classified as a foul when the infringement meets ALL of conditions of: It is committed by a player (not a substitut, on the field of play, while the ball is in play and committed against an opponent. For example, a player striking the referee or a teammate is not a foul, but is misconduct.
The game is getting more technical