Question Number: 23097

Kicks From The Penalty mark 4/11/2010

RE: Premeir High School

kat of sammamish, wa usa asks...

In a PK shout-out tied at 4-4, kicker #5 proceeds with motion to strike the ball without first getting clearance from ref but stops and doesn't touch the ball, passing foot over the ball. Goalie unsets stance upon kickers 'balk'. Referee motions kicker is clear to kick ball without first allowing goalie opportunity to recompose and reset. Shouldn't the kicking team have lost the point? At very least shouldn't the goalie be allowed time to recompose and reset stance? Unfair advantage is given to kicker. Kicking team wins. ????

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Kat
My answer refers to the Laws of the Game and to USSF game. NFHS has its own rules which differ on certain aspects of the game. My colleagues with knowledge of NFHS will answer for Rule 14.
If the penalty kick procedure is not adhered to properly or not appeared to be followed it always causes problems. The referee should not allow the penalty taker to take the penalty kick until he is satisfied that everyone is ready to proceed most importantly the goal keeper. There is no onus on the referee to ensure that the goalkeeper is composed. The requirement of Law 14 is that he is standing on the goal line and facing the kicker. The referee then gives his signal which is a whistle.
From your question it reads to me that the penalty taker was standing beside the ball after some feinting before the whistle was blown. That in itself is not illegal as he did not kick the ball to take the penalty nor could he have. It also reads that the referee then gave the signal to take the penalty while the player was standing beside the ball so he must have assumed that the goal keeper was ready standing on the line and facing the kicker. Perhaps the goalkeeper thought that the taker was not going to kick the ball from his position beside the ball and may have thought that he was going to retreat to then kick the ball. It may not have 'looked right' but I don't believe there is any infringement of Law 14 here. The key to all this in whatever code is the referee's whistle

Even if the the referee adjudged that the penalty taker had infringed Law 14 it would only have resulted in a retake.
There is a 'grey' area in the Law at present on feinting and FIFA will publish an amended law in mid May to cover this.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

If the kicker begins before the referee whistles, then the kick must be retaken regardless of the outcome.

Assuming the referee has blown the whistle, high school rules differ from the laws of the game regarding feints by a kicker during kicks:

a) Under existing high school rules, the kicker must make a continuous run towards the ball.during a kick. The kicker may not start and stop. The referee will stop play, warn (and upon repetition caution) and require a restart - -regardless of the results of the kick.

b) Under the existing laws of the game, a player IS permitted to feint by stopping and starting a run or feinting to kick one way and then kicking the other - - the attempt to deceive the keeper is allowed as 'guile.' We expect IFAB (those who write the laws) to look again at feinting at penalty kicks in May. The referee, however, still must decide if the kicker's action is so extreme as to be unsporting behavior (for example, by running past the ball, backing up, or a seemingly endless number of feints). . If the kicker's action is unsporting, however, the referee will permit the kick to be completed, and will order it retaken if a goal is scored.