Question Number: 23694

Kicks From The Penalty mark 7/22/2010

RE: Competitive High School

Gman of Chicago, IL USA asks...

In Penalty Kick Shootouts, can you clarify the rules for Goalkeeper ability to come off the line? Is it on the Referee's whistle? or on the time of kick? I believe I have seen both used. Are rules different in different leagues? My experience is High school.

Thank You.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi
At a penalty kick the goalkeeper must remain on the line until the ball is kicked. The signal by the referee is to allow the kick to be taken when he /she is satisfied that everything is in order for the kick to proceed. If the GK moves off the line and the penalty is not scored the kick is retaken.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

There is no difference between high school rules and the laws of the game on when a keeper may move off the goal line on a penalty kicks or kicks from the penalty mark. The answer is when the ball is kicked. Note: most referees ignore as trifling when the keeper takes a single 'power step' off the line- - moving one foot off the line in order to jump in the other direction.

Rarely, the rules of competition will call for the old NASL 'shootout' for deciding a winner. (I did a match five years ago where the rules required such a 'shootout' and not a single player was old enough to remember how it went. The ball was placed 35 yards from goal, the whistle blown, and the kicker could dribble the ball and shoot within the prescribed time. The keeper was permitted to move from the line when the whistle blew. Fortunately, even that tournament dropped it the next year when they realized how ancient and arcane its rule was.) This one reason not to refer to kicks from the penalty mark as a 'shootout.'

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

NFHS soccer rules are the same as USSF and FIFA on this matter. The keeper may not move forward nor backward (i.e. 'off his line') until the ball is struck. Unless, of course, you're Brianna Scurry who sometimes wound up 5 yards off her line by the time the ball was kicked