Question Number: 33992

Law 14 - The Penalty kick 9/16/2020

RE: Pro Adult

Muhammad Rizwan Khan of Abbottabad, Abbottabad Pakistan asks...

Can you elaborate this? Law 5 Injuries:

a penalty kick has been awarded and the injured player will be the kicker


Im confuse if a player is injured (in a penalty area) and recover soon he only can take the penalty or anyone of the team member can take the penalty or referee should prefer who will gonna take it.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Muhammad
The reason behind this Law is that IFAB decided it was unfair that a team’s designated penalty taker who may have been injured in the foul should have to leave the field of play in order to receive treatment. It only applies to a physical offence on the player and where the injury can be quickly assessed/treated and then remain on the field of play. In principle, the delay should not be any longer than currently occurs when a physio comes onto the field to assess an injury.
Accordingly it is now the case that if the injured player is the penalty taker he does not have to leave if the treatment is quickly administered.
There are a few considerations here for the referee to take accourt of
The treatment cannot be lengthy so as to hold up the game for a long period. In that case the injured player is asked to leave.
The team is the sole decider of who takes the kick.

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Muhammad,

When the law talks about a penalty kick where the injured player will be the kicker, it doesn't mean that they are the only one who is permitted to take the kick. It just means that if the the team (or their manager) wants that player to take the kick, they don't have to leave the field and wait until the next stoppage to return as was the case previously.

If the team wants a different player to take the kick that's perfectly fine too. It's just that the player who was injured is permitted to take the kick now, despite the fact that they may have needed assessment and/or treatment.

As a matter of practicality, if the player is too seriously injured or the injury looks like it may take too long to treat, the game obviously cannot be held up indefinitely but if the delay is not too long, the player does not have to leave the field and may take the penalty if able and chosen to do so.