The seven cautionable offences

Law 12 lists seven specific offences that earn a yellow card:

1. Unsporting behaviour
2. Dissent by word or action
3. Persistent infringement of the Laws
4. Delaying the restart of play
5. Failing to respect the required distance at a corner kick, free kick, or throw-in
6. Entering or re-entering the field without permission
7. Deliberately leaving the field without permission

Unsporting behaviour is the broadest of the seven and absorbs many distinct actions.

What counts as unsporting behaviour

IFAB documents specific examples:

• Pulling a shirt to stop or slow an opponent
• Holding an opponent
• A reckless handball that prevents an attack but does not deny a goal
• Simulation to deceive the referee
• Verbal distractions to put an opponent off
• Provocative celebrations that incite the crowd
• Deliberate acts to gain an advantage that fall outside the standard fouls
• Tactical fouls to stop a promising attack

Each is unsporting behaviour. Each earns a yellow card.

When unsporting behaviour overlaps with handball

Unsporting behaviour is the route the Laws use to caution deliberate handball that does not meet the DOGSO threshold:

• DOGSO handball — red card plus penalty
• Deliberate handball stopping a promising attack — yellow plus free kick (or penalty)
• Deliberate handball stopping a goal where DOGSO does not apply — yellow plus penalty

The handball still earns the restart, but the card category depends on what was being prevented.

Why "behaviour" and not "behavior"

IFAB writes the Laws in British English. The official term is "unsporting behaviour." The substance is identical to American "behavior" — only the spelling differs.

The escalation path

A first yellow for unsporting behaviour stays a yellow. A second cautionable offence — for any of the seven categories — produces a red card via the second-yellow path. So a player already booked for shirt-pulling can be sent off for time-wasting later in the same match.

That escalation is why managers tell booked players to avoid involvement in any cautionable situation — the next minor offence ends their match.