Question Number: 12042

Kicks From The Penalty mark 1/8/2006

RE: Division 1 Adult

james of oxford, mississippi usa asks...

This question is a follow up to question 12041

I would like to look at your response and follow up with a technical issue concerning the laws.

Under Law 14 the referee is suppose to signal when the PK begins, determine if the players are in the right position, and determine when the kick ends.

Under the June 13, 2005 position paper released by the USSF, if an attacker infringes Law 14 and misses the shot the consequence should be an "indirect free kick" for the other team. Since this was kicks from the mark it can only be applied to not give the kicker a second shot.

In this case Law 14 had been infringed because the shooter did not wait for the "signal" and in this case the referee had decided to allow the signal to be a whistle. Therefore under the new position the kick should not have been retaken.

Of course you may argue the kick does not take place until the signal has been given and therefore an infringement can not be made until after the signal. But remember by law this isn't a Penalty kick and it is in effect a "kick from the mark". And under the June 11, 2002 Position paper the kicks from the mark technincally start at the moment regulation play ends. So technically the kick phase had started and Law 14 was in effect from the beginning of the kick phase.

The kicker violated Law 14 and under the new position should not have been allowed a new kick.

Your opinion?

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

I agree with your premise that a miss taken before the whistle should remain a miss just not neccessarily for the reasons you think.
KFTPM are soley a proceedure to determine a winner at the end of a match but note this while the ATR is advice ! FIFA is law
?? Unless otherwise stated, the relevant Laws of the Game and International F.A. Board Decisions apply when kicks from the penalty mark are being taken. KFTPM are a series of extended time PKs. As there is no continous play the ball is dead after each shot. It only says in law the referee signals and then decides if the PK is complete.

Everytime you rediscover an old possibility one might think a new outcome evolves but in truth the answer in spirit was always available, a wiggle out technical faux pas should not supersede the spirit that law intended..

The Referee
? does not signal for a penalty kick to be taken until the players have
taken up position in accordance with the Law
? decides when a penalty kick has been completed

The Pk restart requires the tact permission of the referee. It COULD be a whistle, it could be telepathic in the case of a too early kick IF it misses.

Referees must ensure that when players infringe this Law 14 or KFTPM, APPROPRIATE action is taken.

Notice the IF in " If "the referee gives the signal for a penalty kick to be taken and, before the ball is in play, one of the following situations occurs:
The player taking the penalty kick infringes the Laws of the Game:
? the referee allows the kick to proceed
? if the ball enters the goal, the kick is retaken
? If the ball does not enter the goal, the referee stops play and restarts
the match with an indirect free kick to the defending team.

Let me ask you, do you know where the restart is?


Most laws of the game are in theory designed to allow the game to be FAIR. Fairplay is the icon of principle, the beacon of justice for our soccer lighthouse it also has both written text and the spirit of intention. Not all spirit is definable somethings you take with faith.
No Pk is taken unless the referee decides it is so.
In the case of a premature kicker, I am decided!
I see no FAIR reason to allow a retake on a miss.
IF there was a goal I will retake and show the yellow card to the PK kicker EVERYTIME. WHY? Because I ensure it could NEVER happen UNLESS the player is so obtuse as to be a brick. IF we allow an early kick or a rebound to be kicked in situations like KFTPM the keeper is at risk for he too awaits the signal and should not take an unneccessary shot to the face unexpectedly!

The reduntant nature of certain aspects of the law occur often when they dabble with the "SPIRIT of the game changes"
LAW 14 PENALTY KICK PROCEEDURES
? the player taking the penalty kicks the ball forward
? the ball is in play when it is kicked and moves forward

FIFA Q&A
A player taking a penalty kick back heels the ball to a team-mate who kicks the ball into the goal. What action does the referee take?
The referee stops play and restarts the match with an indirect free kick to the defending team at the penalty mark.

The FIFA Q&A answer is CONTRARY to posted law 14 criteria for the ball to be IN play so you see dilemma and conflict even at the highest levels where matches are replayed because of referee misapplication of the PK laws.

A team-mate of the player taking the kick enters the penalty area or
moves in front of or within 9.15 m (10 yds) of the penalty mark:
? the referee allows the kick to proceed
? if the ball enters the goal, the kick is retaken
? If the ball does not enter the goal, the referee stops play and restarts
the match with an indirect free kick to the defending team
? if the ball rebounds from the goalkeeper, the crossbar or the goal
post and is touched by this player, the referee stops play and restarts
the match with an indirect free kick to the defending team

What reason is there to add this last point of the touch off a rebound by an encroached attacker?
The infringing attacker has already drawn an INDFK for just being there when there is a miss.
Your answer is?

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Kicks from the mark, as explained in the Laws of the Game are slightly different than penalty kicks because play may not continue after the ball has been kicked.

The kicker kicks the ball and is finished.

The goalkeeper must absorb all its energy, deflect it across the goal line or into touch without it crossing the goal line under the crossbar and between the posts or the kinetic energy in the ball must dissipate through the effects of friction.

This statement: Unless otherwise stated, the relevant Laws of the Game and International F.A. Board Decisions apply when kicks from the penalty mark are being taken, tells us Law 14 applies. Law 14 requires a signal before the kick is taken. The signal was not given, ergo...

Now lets look at the Spirit of the Game: The only part of this equation missing is a signal. The keeper was on his line and, perhaps, ready. The kicker was ready, he took the shot right? No signal indicates the referee was not ready. Here the referee must decide if the kick was fairly taken or not. The keeper making a save indicates he was ready, fair! The kicker missing the goal indicates he was a bad shot, fair. The kicker beating the keeper and scoring a goal indicates the keeper, perhaps, WAS NOT prepared and as a consequence of that unpreparedness he was taken advantage of by the kicker, the kicker cheated, not fair. When one looks at it this way a decision is easy to take. In one case the missing signal contributed to the outcome, the case of a goal being scored. Here a caution for unsporting behavior is the price one pays for his efforts. Do again!

The only other time I would allow this kicker a second go is in the event of an outside agent causing the ball not to reach the goal line. This is clearly not fairly taken.

Regards,