Question Number: 32173

Law 14 - The Penalty kick 1/17/2018

RE: Competitive Adult

Ashley Wilkinson of Llandudno junction , Conwy Wales asks...

In a penalty shootout on a really windy day what would the outcome be of a penalty being saved or hitting the woodwork and the wind blew it back without touching the floor from the edge of the penalty area?

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

HI Ashley,
these blue moon, dark hole, anti matter equations are an exercise in theory for the most part . A referee will permit the momentum of the penalty kick to expend itself no matter the ball rebounds or deflects off keeper post or crossbar until the ball goes out of play, keeper gains control or the ball stationery or headed away from the goal with no backspin.

The idea we permit a ball that was saved or headed back out into the field if it came to a dead stop an it was the force of the wind that blows it back then the PK is over!

However often rebounds utilize the backspin of a ball in addition with the wind to alter its trajectory after hitting the ground and bouncing or rolling in the direction of the goal instead of away from it. This is confusing to some who believe if the ball initially is moved away from the goal it is over.

This is not necessarily so, if the ball has momentum and backspin off the original strength of the PK that ball is live and if it was to roll under its own power into the goal across the goal line under the crossbar and between the posts we have a legal goal as long as the referee acknowledges it without blowing the whistle too early. !
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Ashley,
It is unlikely that this would happen as you describe it so this is just an exercise in the hypothetical but in the unlikely event of this occurring, the referee would allow the goal. The laws says that:

''The kick is completed when the ball stops moving, goes out of play or the referee stops play for any offence; the kicker may not play the ball a second time''

Since in your scenario none of these things has happened, the goal would be legal.

However, as ref Dawson says, if the ball heads initially away from the goal and then reverses course, it would more likely be a result of the backspin caused by the ball hitting the bar or a combination of wind and backspin, rather than the effects of the wind alone. Anything is theoretically possible, though.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Ashley
On the net there are a number of outlier penalty kicks in Kicks from the Penalty Mark where spin imparted from the save or hitting the crossbar resulted in the ball crossing the goal line a number of seconds later. In those instances the referees waited until the momentum imparted from the original kicks were spent before deciding whether to award a goal or a miss.
In the three highest profile ones the goals were awarded which is in line with the Law which tells us that
1. The penalty can only be kicked / touched once by the kicker
2. The ball can hit any combination of goalkeeper, ground and frame of the goal
3. The ball continues to move from the original momentum of the kick
In your question I see no reason why a goal would not be awarded as it meets the three conditions and it crosses the goal line. There is nothing to stop a goalkeeper playing the ball twice in a save as they could have done to prevent both these goals.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=l4ejXyzawaE
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JTZcMAg_DDs
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ab3WF_e-J8M
These goal have all been approved at the highest level as being legal so the referees were 100% correct in awarding them
I could see a situation where wind could assist the goals quite easily.

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

See Question: 32177