Question Number: 30200

Kicks From The Penalty mark 3/17/2016

RE: competitive Adult

kenneth ofori-gyadu of Kumasi , Ghana Ghana asks...

In a penalty shoot -out if a kick comes off the post and the ball hits the ground and then hits the goalkeeper and enters the net, is it a goal?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Kenneth
Most certainly YES and this has been asked many times. It is a GOAL
To look at the reason why it is a goal we have to look at the history here. In 1986 a French player did just this in a penalty shoot out in a World a Cup game between Brazil and France, The ball hit the crossbar and the ball came back out and hit the Brazilian goalkeeper and went into the goal. The Referee correctly allowed the goal to count and France went on to win 4-3 on penalties.
There was a lot of controversy about the French penalty kick at the time due to an ambiguity in the laws on when a penalty was completed. The Scottish Football Association sought clarification, and the current wording has its origins in that law change. It was agreed at the time that the referee made the correct decision to allow the goal and the wording was changed to reflect that. In the great rewrite of the Laws in 97/98 all that detail was removed and the current wording is

* When a penalty kick is taken during the normal course of play, or time has been extended at half-time or full time to allow a penalty kick to be taken or retaken, a goal is awarded if, before passing between the goalposts and under the crossbar:
# the ball touches either or both of the goalposts and/or the crossbar and/or the goalkeeper
The referee decides when a penalty kick has been completed*

So in your example a goal is awarded as the ball on its own momentum from the original kick crossed over the goal line after hitting the frame of the goal and/or the goalkeeper. We also know that Law 14 applies to Kicks from the Penalty Mark so there is no difference in penalty shoot outs to use your term.

The following questions were asked as a follow up to the above question...

See Question: 30279