Question Number: 26231

Law 14 - Penalty kick 4/24/2012

RE: Other

sa m of Chicago, il usa asks...

This question is a follow up to question 26207

The situation Mitch describes really happened a few months ago in Europe and can be found on youtube. The referee awarded an incredibly made up PK to team A, the players from team B were so upset about the call that one of its defenders beat the attacker to the ball and scored in his own net in protest. It is not clear if the goal is allowed or not. I agree with the first ref's reply of a retake and caution. I think the rest of the guys misunderstood the question.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi
Sometimes the simple answer is the best particularly on a confusing question. Answers can try to give explanation to situations that are unusual which can confuse further.
Rarely if ever would a defender score an own goal directly from a penalty kick but should it happen the penalty is taken properly by the attacking side and the player cautioned probably for dissent as per the example you cite.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Ah, your one would make sense that a peculiar kick that breaks the laws of physics!

In your case the penalty kick hasn't occurred as a defender cannot take a penalty kick, so it would then be a retake and a caution to the defender - if not for dissent then delaying the restart of play would also suit, but I'd suggest dissent as that's the reason for the action.

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

Remember that on a PK, the kicker must be identified. So, if anyone, including a defender takes the kick instead of the identified kicker, the kick does not count. The only possible restart in that situation is a retake of the PK, and caution for the defender. Dissent works for me, but UB would work as well.

I wish the original question had set up the scenario so we weren't left guessing as to how on earth such an incident could even happen. Nonetheless, we have it now. It is hard to believe a referee just made up a PK call, and teams are often so emotional, that real or imagined, they retaliate, which sounds like what happened here.