Question Number: 31271

Law 14 - The Penalty kick 2/16/2017

RE: Adult

Mehdi of Mashhad , Khorasan Iran asks...

http://video.varzesh3.com/video/133870/Ú¯Ù„-پنالتÛ'-به-سبک-مسÛ'-طارمÛ'Ø›-پرسپولÛ'س-سپاهان

Hello. Would you as a referee allow this goal to be counted or should it have been replayed?

Thanks.

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Mehdi,
In my opinion the penalty kick should have been retaken. Not because the ball was played to team mate of the kicker (that part is perfectly legal, since the ball went forward) but because the player who eventually put the ball in the net was less than 6 yards from the ball (probably closer to 5 yards) at the time the penatly kick was taken. If he had been the only person encroaching, the outcome should have been an indirect free kick to the defending team but since there were players from both teams who were less than the required distance away, I would have gone with a retake.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Mahdi
The goal should not have been allowed. Both teams have encroached closer than 10 yards before the kick was taken which is an infringement of Law 14. As both teams infringed Law 14 the goal should have been disallowed and the kick retaken. perhaps on a direct kick at goal where ta minimal amount of encroachment is seen as trifling yet in this situation it was significant given what unfolded
Now why did it happen. If one looks closely at the video the referee has his focus on the ball, the kicker and the goals which is somewhat similar to the first camera angle where we cannot see the scorers position at the moment of the kick. The referee does not see the encroachment as the players come from behind his angle of view. However he could ask as to how a player can get to within two yards of the ball within say 1 to 2 seconds of the kick if he is 10 yards away when the ball was kicked? That would be world record sprinting although without seeing the actual encroachment he decided to ignore it. Encroachment at penalty kicks is probably one of the most ignored offences.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

HI Mehdi.
The goal score had already encroached by 5 yards at the time the PK was taken. Now we do see some degree of encroachment by both teams occurring ALL THE TIME and ignored as the trifling impact on the PK is considered weighed and discounted by the official, allowing the result of the PK to stand!

THIS is NOT one of those times!

The players other than the kicker and goalkeeper must be:
# at least 9.15 m (10 yds) from the penalty mark
# behind the penalty mark
# inside the field of play
# outside the penalty area

The encroachment had a DIRECT effect on the outcome that was too blatant to be ignored. The penalty arcs' SOLE purpose is to delineate the TEN yard distance away from the PK spot required by the LOTG. You CAN NOT cut through the penalty arc area until AFTER the ball is played just as you can not cut through the 18 yard PA area .

Whether you are convinced the defending team was equally culpable in encroaching along with the attackers simply ignoring the encroachment is in fact NOT following the LOTG that require a MINIMUM of ten yards by all players to be away from the PA spot.

While the referee is the final word on facts of play and goals scored, this is at the very minimum, a retake. I fully expect the officials to be chastised in the post game review for not doing so! In a single referee recreational match perhaps it get overlooked, perhaps, but there is zero excuse for missing this in a fully vetted 3/4 man team officiating at that level.

Once the referee has signalled for a penalty kick to be taken, the kick
must be taken. If, before the ball is in play, one of the following occurs:
the player taking the penalty kick or a team-mate infringes the Laws of the
Game:
# if the ball enters the goal, the kick is retaken

The sad thing is it really is that simple!

Cheers