Question Number: 32152

Law 14 - The Penalty kick 1/7/2018

RE: Grade 8 High School

Conor Devery of Royal Palm Beach, Florida USA asks...

I just finished watching FA Cup game Arsenal vs Nottingham Forest. I have a question concerning the penalty kick that Nottingham Forest took late in the 2nd half.

Kieran Dowell slipped while kicking the penalty kick. He kicked the ball with his left foot but when he slipped the ball hit off his right foot and went into the goal. While not deliberate does this constitute a double touch and should have been retaken? John Moss allowed the goal to stand after consulting with his AR.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Connor,
if John Moss says it was good, tough to argue with him! HE did confer with the AR. I could not see a double touch, it certainly was not obvious, but if it was then an INDFK out could be correct in law! There is no law that says you can not kick the ball with both feet at the same time? A double touch is not a retake if THAT was the only thing to occur. . Encroachment and keeper off the line etc might allow for a retake There were 4 blue players inside the PA closer than the CR to the PK kicker's feet so maybe they saw it lol . The camera seems to show the CR and AR are looking at the goal not his feet!
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Conor
It took video replay and freeze frame from a few different angles on TV to consider whether there was a double touch or not. It looked like there was yet on the field of play this particular action is nigh impossible to be certain about. A guess would say that it was highly likely yet in real time that is not a consideration that can be made on a guess.
Referee Moss asked his AR for his opinion and as both were uncertain the only possible outcome was to award a goal unless of course there was another infringement such as encroachment. As encroachment was not considered due to the award of the goal the only decision was either award the goal or an IDFK for a double touch as the only infringement that occurred.
By the way there is nothing new in this. In the Champions League game between Real Madrid and Athletico Madrid in 2017 the Griezmann penalty had the exact same situation. It was not contested by Real Madrid players as it did not look like a double touch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kU2jabqJhk
And here is another one. Green team protests about the kick yet ignore their blatant encroachment inside the penalty area.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHrOoqIKi7E
In the scheme of things it is doubtful and questionable technical infringement. I would safely say that most could be retaken on the basis of both teams infringing the Laws. Also if a player tried to do it for unsporting reasons he could not manage to do it successfully.

Answer provided by Referee Joe Manjone

Conor,

In high school play, the situation you describe would be a violation only if the kicker played the ball on the second touch. You as the referee would have to decide if the second touch was an actual play on the ball or did the ball just touch the foot and no actual play of the ball occurred.

This would be similar to the handling rule where the ball hits the hand but the hand did not play the ball, so no handling occurred.

From what you describe, the ball touched the foot but there was no play, so if was a high school game, the goal would also have been scored.

I hope that you have a successful officiating year.