Question Number: 23713

Kicks From The Penalty mark 7/28/2010

RE: Academy Adult

Joe Couture of Sugarland, texas Fort Bend asks...

At the end of regulation league rules make the teams go to PK's to break any ties.
The first shooter scores and while running back to the center circle the AR notices that he does not have his shin guards on.
1) Do you caution the player?
2) Does the player re-shoot?

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

The best time for the referee team to be sure that the players are wearing required equipment (shinguards, socks, cleats, etc) is to check before the kicks begin. Many players don't know that they must keep them on during the kicks phase.

The kick is not retaken for this infringement of law 4.

While the referee has the power to caution a player, doing so will rarely serve any useful purpose (unless the player ignored a previous warning about shinguards). Stopping the kicks so that the AR can inform the referee, the referee summon the player, show a card and writing down the event simply delays the taking of the kicks and disrupts the enjoyment of an already intense phase of deciding who advances. In most cases, the AR should simply ask all players (including those who have already kicked) to put/keep on their shin guards.

The primary role of the AR1 is to make sure that no one kicks twice before being eligible to kick again, and the secondary role is to use management skills to keep the kicks moving quickly and without disruption.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Referee Couture
This IMO is a trifling infringement in KFTPM and the best decision is to allow the goal to stand and to allow kicks to continue without any action.
A breach of Law 4 does not require a caution nor does it require play to be stopped.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Again, I'll disagree. You are a USSF Referee and Advice takes a breech of Law 4 at KFTPM seriously enough to point this Law out in particular.

19.1 LAWS GOVERNING KICKS FROM THE PENALTY MARK
All Laws of the Game, except for those clearly modified in the separate section of the Laws dealing
with kicks from the penalty mark, are in effect during this procedure. In particular, this means that the
player uniform requirements in Law 4 must be enforced.

IMO it is much easier to strike the ball accurately without shinguards so this breech of Law 4 has given this player an unfair advantage and the kick should be retaken

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

I can't imagine why a caution is in order here, unless the player had ignored a specific order to keep them on or put them back on. The referee and AR should have seen to these matters BEFORE the kicks were taken.

While Law 4 is still in force during KFTPM, so is the referee's authority to choose how to best deal with any infractions during the course of the game and any further periods required to decide outcome of the game. The kick does not need to be retaken, and the player (unless there is something more to the story) does not require being cautioned.

The lesson for the referee crew is to always be alert in these situations, and to fix problems before they become an issue, and if that isn't possible, to use common sense to find the most reasonable solution within the powers granted to the referee under the LOTG.