Question Number: 28439

Kicks From The Penalty mark 5/19/2014

RE: Rec, Select, Competitive Other

Dre Serenil of Austin, TX USA asks...

Are you allowed to switch goalies if a match is tied at the end of regulation right before a team takes penalty kicks?
I know there is only one goalie switch per half, if a team has not switched their goalie yet that half does it count as a switch if the team switches goalie before taking kicks?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Dre
Not sure where the one switch per half comes from?? The Laws of the game allow for as many goalkeeper switches as requested provided it is done at a stoppage in play and the referee is informed.
A goalkeeper may be switched before and during Kicks from the Penalty Mark. Indeed it happens regularly at underage where a team might use a better shot stopper who has played outfield to take over the goalkeeping duties at that time.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

You must have some local league rule that states you can only switch the goalkeeper once per half. I wonder how this works? Say you made a switch at 25 minutes, and then 10 minutes later the new goalkeeper was injured and cannot continue to play? How do you proceed within this league modification, as you must have a goalkeeper but you are prohibited from making a change? (The law of unintended consequences strikes again. Leagues make well-meant changes, probably to limit time wastage, but don't consider all the ramifications.)

Under the Laws of the Game, goalkeepers can be switched at any stoppage in play, including all the stoppages between the kicks from the penalty mark to determine a winner.

However, once the game is over, a goalkeeper can be substituted (new player coming in from the bench) if the keeper is injured. (And, in games with limits, if all substitutions have not been used.) Else, the new goalkeeper must come from one of the players on the field taking part in the kicks.