Question Number: 33129

Law 14 - The Penalty kick 3/10/2019

RE: Competitive Adult

Fidel Jaary of Auckland, Auckland New Zealand asks...

Team A vs Team B at penalty shootout, can team A during penalty shootout change the goal keeper with another player and after the kick was taken the keeper is back as goal keeper, can this be done more than once,i.e keeper change with a player and back again as GK.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Fidel
Yes the goalkeeper can be changed as often as required provided the referee is informed. A goalkeeper can also be changed on a retake.
From my experience this mainly only happens at Underage where there can be a better shot stopper playing outfield. If it is done at adult level it can be due to injury to the regular goalkeeper and then uncertainty as to who is the *best* replacement from the remaining players on the field of play.
If a team has not used all its regular substitutions allowance a substitute goalkeeper can be used for an injury to the goalkeeper during Kicks from the Penalty Mark.
Final point is that extremely frequent changes which are being done perhaps for unsporting reasons needs to be managed carefully. At lower levels of the game I would probably agree to a glove change only to speed up the changes rather than including jersey changes.

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Fidel,
Assuming both the keeper and player in question were on the field at the end of the match and eligible to take part in the penalty shoot-out then yes, an outfield player can take the place of the goalkeeper and the keeper can go back in goal afterwards, so long as the referee is informed.

As ref McHugh says, this is unusual at adult level as a team will normally have their best goalkeeper already in goal and so would probably only change the keeper in case of injury.