Question Number: 31087

Kicks From The Penalty mark 12/6/2016

RE: junior Adult

chad of dublin, ireland asks...

Penalty shoot out. Score is 5-4.

Deciding penalty. Attacker his ball hard off crossbar. Keeper runs out and celebrates wildly in front of striker. Striker hits the keeper a punch.
Ball meanwhile comes down and spins into the net.

What happens?

It will be a red for striker for sure.
Is it a goal or a retake?

If its a retake though, who takes it? If next player up, do opposing team lose a player from their pool of penalty takers?

Does keeper get a yellow?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Chad
Well first off the goal counts provided the ball crossed the line BEFORE the violent conduct. That can be a difficult call or maybe not depending on how long it takes the ball to cross the line. If the goalkeeper infringes the Laws of the Game the referee can await the outcome of the kick. Not so on an infringement by the kicker. So if the VC happened before the ball crossed the line the goal cannot be counted. The updated Laws tells us that if a player of both teams infringes the Laws of the Game the kick is retaken unless a player commits a more serious offence (e.g. illegal feinting). VC is probably the most serious offence that can be committed.
Have a look at this video which covers what you describe without the violent conduct part. The goal was correctly awarded by the referee. Had the attacker punched the goalkeeper here it would probably be clear that the offence happened before the ball crossed the line due to the length of time it took to do so.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ab3WF_e-J8M
Now in respect of your scenario the attacker he is dismissed for violent conduct and shown a red card. The goalkeeper could be cautioned for unsporting behaviour such as taunting or gesturing in a provocative, derisory or inflammatory manner. It depends on the opinion of the referee as to whether the celebration was unsporting behaviour or not.
Anyway it is an interesting question on paper and one that is not going to be encountered by referees, certainly not the VC part with the ball still in motion.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Chad,
the goal was going to be ok up until the PK kicker smacks the keeper, if the ball has not yet COMPLETELY crossed the goal line under the crossbar and between the posts then play is dead and no goal can be awarded. If the ball had done so BEFORE the strike, the goal would be good! The interesting part here is whether we retake or declare it a miss and end the match. I favour a miss over a retake
. Cheers & Merry Christmas

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Chad,
The Laws of the Game tell us that at kicks from the penalty mark (a penalty shoot out) ''unless
otherwise stated, the relevant Laws of the Game apply.''

The same law (Law 10) also states that a goal can only count ''provided that no offence or infringement of the Laws of the Game has been committed by the team scoring the goal.''

So if the attacker strikes the keeper before the ball crosses the line, the goal would not stand.

As for what happens next, the law is a little unclear. Law 14 gives a summary table showing the outcome of various infringements but VC is not one of them. However, using the 'spirit of the game' principle I would agree with ref McHugh that ''a more serious offence'' has occurred and the goal should not count.

So IMHO it should be counted as a miss, rather than a goal or a retake and the game would be over - once again, assuming the striking offence happens before the ball crosses the line.

As for the keeper's behaviour it could possibly be a caution, according to how the referee views the offence - there's often quite a lot of celebrating at the end of KFTPM so it would have to be something fairly egregious for me to issue a caution.

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

See Question: 31095