Question Number: 31616

Law 14 - The Penalty kick 6/21/2017

RE: Adult

Jeff Braun of Strathroy, Ontario Canada asks...

If a penalty kick rebounds of the crossbar or post and the kicker takes another kick or in any way touches the ball, Is it offside?

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Jeff,
No, this is not an offside offence. Firstly, offside requires a touch by a team mate and here, only the kicker had touched the ball. Also, the kicker (unless something incredibly unusual happened) was behind the ball when when taking the penalty so even if a player could be offside from their own touch, the kicker was not in an offside position anyway.

However the kicker has committed an offence, commonly known as a 'double touch' offence, by playing the ball a second time before any other player has touched it. The restart would be an indirect free kick to the opponents.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Jeff,
As Ref Grove states, offside is not the applicable law - a player can never put themselves offside. Offside is when an attacker is closer to the opponent's goal line than both the ball and the second last line of defence (here, the attacker is behind the ball), and the ball is touched by a teammate (here it's touched by the same attacker).

However, there is a law preventing a player from playing the ball twice at a restart before another player touches it. If the kicker touches the ball after it rebounds from the crossbar and before it has touched any player (bear in mind the keeper is another player), then this is an indirect free kick to the defence. This is the same law that stops a player dribbling the ball away at a free kick.

If it was Kicks From The Mark to decide a game - a penalty kick that occurs at the end of the first or second half when play has been extended ONLY for the kick then no follow-up is permitted anyway, by any of the attackers.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Jeff
A player cannot be offside by playing the ball to himself. In open play it would not be offside
Now Law 14 like any other kicked restart requires that the ball is touched / played by another player before the kicker can play the ball for a second time. In this case as the ball has come back off the frame of the goal it has not been touched by another player so the kicker is guilty of a technical infringement of a double touch which has an IDFK restart from where the ball was touched for a second time
So while it is not offside it is still an offence punished by an IDFK.
If the ball came back off the goalkeeper or touched by the goalkeeper on to the frame of the goal the restriction would no longer apply ad it would be play on.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

HI Jeff,
this is an INDFK infringement known as the double touch off a restart given no other player has yet contacted the ball. If the keeper had managed to deflect it onto the wood work or if the ball off the woodwork even accidently caught the keeper in a deflection or rebound ONLY then could the PK kicker kick away!
Cheers