Question Number: 27632

Kicks From The Penalty mark 7/30/2013

RE: competitive Professional

thabo of johannesburg, pretoria south africa asks...

Hi
It was penalty shootout, the ref blow the whistle for a retake, but after consulting wit this assistant he then change his mind and said its not a retake..and blow that the game is over..can he do that ????

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

A referee may change his decision upon reflection, or upon receiving additional information from an assistant referee, provided the game has not been restarted. If the ref did not yet allow another kick to take place, then the decision can be changed.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

Yes. The referee may change his decision regarding a retake of the kick during the kicks from the penalty mark phase. But, it is very rare.

It is not clear what new information caused the referee to change the decision. If the question is whether a penalty kick at the end of regulation time can be retaken even if time expires during the taking of the first kick, the answer should be yes: time is always extended to complete a penalty kick (including retakes).

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Thabo
The referee can change any decision during the game or at kicks from the penalty mark provided the game has not restarted. In this case as the kick has not taken place the referee can change his mind and end the game.
In my opinion though the handling of these situations will always be diffcult. As it was the last kick he may have wished to ensure that the 'winning' team did not celebrate before he had a chance to consult with his assistant. Perhaps he felt there was encroachment by the goalkeeper and the assistant confirmed that there wasn't any in which case the miss was confirmed and the game ended.