Question Number: 21352

Kicks From The Penalty mark 5/16/2009

RE: Under 10

JENNIE BRAIN of BANBURY, UK asks...

We recently were in the semi final in a tournament and at full time the match was at a draw.

We went straight to a penalty shoot out.
One of the opposing side had been subbed off before the end of the match but still took a penalty and scored. We thought that only the men on pitch at the final whistle could take the penalty in a shoot out.

Is this the case or not?
It would be nice to clear this matter up.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Was the player actually subbed out, or was he temporarily off the field with the permission of the referee (i.e., they were playing short)?

If the former, then he should not have been eligible for a kick from the mark.

If the latter, he is still a player of record, and may take part in the kicks.

I would suspect that at U10 there are very few games that need to have a winner, and the referee who was assigned at that level may never have administered kicks from the mark before. He may have forgotten the correct procedures.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

While the competitive spirit is one that I can appreciate u-10 littlies while intense effort are not usually refereed by older highly experienced referees. This age is generally good for the newer or younger referees to learn their skills as the players learn theirs.

Shoot outs to determine a winner do have guidelines that state only the players actually on the field at the final whistle can participate in the shoot out!

There is only ONE allowable substitution during a shoot out and that is one where the keeper is injured and could substitute out with a new player from the technical area provided the allowable number of substitutes had not been exceeded. Since u-littlies generally have a modified unlimited substitution policy this substitution is legal in the case I just described.

Tournaments unless on-going seasonal national or state duration generally have no a no fault referee policy where a screw-up remains screwed up as there is no adequate way to address a wrong in limited time and field circumstances!

I suppose if a field marshal or a tournament rules personal were present something might be done then and there? Who knows? I have seen tournaments with some fairly liberal by laws and equal play opportunities diverge from actual law at times.

Take heart from the fact you had a grasp of the laws and next time tell the team lets win it before we get to this stage!
Cheers