Question Number: 28047

Law 1- The Field 12/6/2013

RE: competitive Adult

Djibril of George Town, Guyana asks...

What should the referee do if he awarded a penalty during the game and the penalty spot is full of water?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Djibril
He should arrange for the groundsman, if available, to repair the penalty mark by say scooping the water out, soaking it up with a towel or by filling it with sand.
I had an incident recently in a game where a goalkeeper complained after half time about a hole in the goal area. Must have been done at half time? Anway I did not allow the game to restart until it was repaired by the groundsman which was done by filling it with sand.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

The penalty kick may NOT be taken at a different location than the penalty mark. The referee only has two options if the amount of water makes the field unplayable: (A) Suspend the match and have the issue corrected by the grounds crew,; or (B) If the field conditions cannot be remedied and are such that the match cannot be played safely, the match would be abandoned.

Of course, the existence of some water on the pitch does not make it unsafe. The referee can order the penalty kick to be taken even if a bit of water makes conditions less than ideal. The referee must decide how much is too much.