Question Number: 28226

Kicks From The Penalty mark 3/2/2014

RE: Select High School

Edward Kiwanuka-Quinlan of Brampton, Ontario Canada asks...

What is my responsibility as a REF in this matter?

At a U16-U18 game recently, during a kicks-from-the-spot procedure, the teams gathered at center field, congratulated each other, did the after-the-match routine and walked off the field after only taking 3 of the proposed 5 kicks to decide a winner in the match. It was a indoor spirited encounter between 2 evenly matched teams that was tied 0-0 at the end of regulation time. Competition rules advise to go straight to PKs in this case. The score was 3-1 at this point.

It is important to mention that I was a lone official at this match (the club cannot afford Assistants for this age group)

I honestly thought that the coaches had reached an understanding and decided that they had had enough. Then the losing coach, after 10 minutes of me waiting on the field comes out and starts admonishing me for ending the match prematurely! I did no such thing; I did not indicate in any way that the procedure was complete or that the match had ended!

The coach went on to insinuate that I had cost his team the match because his team didn't have any black players. I was born to Ugandan parents. I am lodging a Ref Assault complaint against the coach with his club. I have detailed the incident in my match report and filled out a Special Incident Report as well.

Has this ever happened to any REF out there? What would you do? Law 5 is silent on this matter!

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Edward
This reads to me to be sour grapes by the losing coach. Now the referee's responsibility is to ensure the Kicks from the Penalty Mark are taken in accordance with the Procedure set out on Page 54 of the current Laws of the Game.
From your description I am unsure whether the teams incorrectly decided at 3-1 that was the end of the PKs? Did they know it was 5 penalties each. At 3-1 the team with one goal could still get to 3 and the team with three could miss the last penalty kicks, making it a tie? It is however the referee's duty to achieve a result in KFTPM which should be beyond doubt and that is the result that is expected to be returned on the match card

Now the Procedure states "" If, before both teams have taken five kicks, one has scored more goals than the other could score, even if it were to complete its five kicks, no more kicks are taken"".
Now hindsight is 20-20 vision. When players start to walk and the referee knows that the result is not decided he should step in to deal with the situation. Never assume anything in soccer particularly from players / coaches. On the field of play some players don't keep count or make incorrect assumptions as to the score. Perhaps some players in the changing room, that did not leave, told the coach that they could still have tied and that the result was not reached beyond doubt. Suddenly a count is done and that is confirmed which then leads to the 'afterthought'.
I have seen plenty of mis-calculation on KFTPM as teams do lose count.

So it is very important that procedures are followed. I know it is difficult when one does not have assistants to help in these situations. Even with players walking off, if more penalties had been taken the result would have been without doubt and the unpleasantness would have been avoided. A simple shout "Hey who is taking the next penalty" is all that is required.
Also a little bit of advice. While it is not in the Laws of the Game it can be a good idea to ascertain in advance the numbers of the first five kickers from each team. That focusses teams and players into the sequence of kicks and bring some order to the proceedings. I'm sure the 4th kicker would have been concentrating on his penalty kick and may have come forward at 3-1 which could have sorted everything.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

One problem with indoor leagues is that the referee often is the only person who knows the rules for THIS match. There is no uniform set of rule, so at one facility, kicks may only involve best of 3 and another facility may use best of 5.

So, it can be helpful for the referee to explain the rules before the match begins, and before the kicks phase begins. With adults, the referee can simply talk to the captains; with kids, discussing the rules beforehand with the coach is important.