Question Number: 35034

Law 10 - Determining the Outcome of a Match 7/19/2023

RE: Level 2 Adult

Tony of Sydney, NSW Australia asks...

Hi Panel,

I have been a senior ref for a while and I am interested to hear your views on a goal keeper moving forward off his line, not enough to interfere with the kicker and the kick is not saved ie it goes over the bar or goes wide in the following situations.

1. At a penalty kick. On page 71, 2022-2023 the kick is not retaken. Not many would know that.

2.During additional time just to take the penalty kick, page 69, "A defender,including the goalkeeper commits an offence and the penalty is missed/saved, the penalty is retaken". So it is retaken unlike in point 1.

3.Determining the outcome of a match Law 10, page 53."If the goalkeeper commits an offence and,as a result, the kick is retaken, the goalkeeper is warned for the first offence and cautioned for any subsequent offence"

So if the GK comes off his line before the ball is kicked regardless of if the ball was going over the bar the KFTPM is taken again.

So my point is that this is NOT consistent. In a normal penalty during general play if the ball is going wide and is not saved the GK comes off his line the kick is not retaken. However during additional time (extended time) to just take the kick, the kick is retaken and also the same is true during KFTPM.

Have I got this right? It seems to be inconistent.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Tony
Thanks for the question
Opening line of Law 10 states
“”Penalties (penalty shoot-out) are taken after the match has ended and unless otherwise stated, the relevant Laws of the Game apply. “”

Law 14 tells us that it is only a retake if the kicker has been clearly impacted so if it is not a retake in the game it is not a retake in a penalty shootout.

If a goalkeeper has slightly moved off the line and a player blasts the ball wide or over the bar it is recorded as a miss in both the game and in penalties.
So there is in no inconsistency and there should never be inconsistency in the Laws.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

HI Tony,
While we can debate trifling, is what you ask about doubtful? Often in years past players could encroach on pks but if the encroaching did not actually affect the outcome it was ignored! You saw the results over the years as referees valiantly sought to condense the retakes into ONLY when an infringement occurred by the keeper where he contacted or stopped a shot my moving early or conversely if an attacking player was to benefit and score or a defender was able to clear only because of the encroachment. Then the retake after retake for early movement swung in hard and created massive confusion. The fairness' in a consistent resolution by the referee is to not award either team a benefit if they mess up It is a more pragmatic view of cause and effect. Was it missed by a poor effort or was it missed by an illegal one ?

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

See Question: 35041