Ernst the Junger

Soccer ref here. Please indulge me as I can finally get pedantic about the NYT crossword. The clue is simply wrong. A card is an indicator of an OFFENSE (some violation of the laws of the game) that is significant enough for the referee to issue a caution (yellow card) or sending-off (red card). The laws provide detailed lists of the kinds of offenses that qualify for each category of card. A PENALTY kick is awarded for a direct-kick offense committed by a player in their penalty area. Again, there is a defined list of direct-kick offenses—i.e., offenses for which the resulting restart is a direct kick. As many others have noted, you can have a penalty kick without a card (carelessly tripping an attacker inside the penalty area, for instance) and a card without a penalty kick (recklessly tripping an attacker outside the penalty area, say). Within soccer, "foul," "offense," and "penalty" are not all synonymous with "some generic bad thing that a player did." Each has a distinct definition. And no one involved in the game uses the phrase "penalty card," despite what Wikipedia and other websites might say. To do so would cause confusion. All in all, in the opinion of the referee (ITOOTR in ref lingo), this clue deserves a yellow caution card for a careless offense.