Question Number: 21086

Kicks From The Penalty mark 4/5/2009

RE: Adult

josh of peterborough, cambs UK asks...

This regards a penalty shoot-out situation.

A player shoots and hits the crossbar, it flies across to the other side of the pitch over all the players in the centre cirlce and hits the cross bar at the other end, the ball then returns and enters the goal(The goalkeeper was away celebrating the PK win). Would this goal stand? The referee had not blown to signal the end of the game either yet.

What rules is infringed if it doesn't count?

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

That player must have a heckuva strong kick!

The ball is live as long as it's momentum is not spent, and it is not interrupted by the kicker. This means it can bounce off of the defending goalkeeper or any crazy concoction of legal field appurtenances and still go in the goal and score.

Referees need to be careful not to blow the whistle too soon on shootouts.

What happens if the referee does blow the whistle too soon? That will depend in large measure on the local association rules defining the tie-breaking procedures. Unless there is a provision for protest, the referee's decision is final.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Unless the referee stopped play, the goal would stand. Other than being impossible, your scenario is no different than if the ball hits the crossbar and rebounds in front of the keeper and then backspins into the net. That is to say, the ball is in play until all the energy imparted to it is spent, or it crosses the goal line or touch line, or the referee stops play.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

I'm glad that ball hit the crossbar first, because if it hit the goalkeeper it would have been likely to take his head off! And if it missed everything completely, we might have a new piece of space debris in orbit for the shuttle astronauts to avoid.

If I knew enough about aerodynamics I could probably prove this was an impossibility. But none the less, if it happened, the goal would count.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

I've wondered where 'Cannon Leg' McGurk had gone. Seems he's alive and well in Peterborough and still scoring improbable goals.

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Peterborough got real tiny fields?
Try a shot off the crossbar, rebounds off the referee back to the kicker who whacks it again and then back off the referee into the goal.
Cheers