Question Number: 14842

Mechanics 2/14/2007

RE: Rec/Select Under 13

Mark Warner of Huntington Beach, CA USA asks...

Regarding penalty kicks and feinting. I have read the LOTG and I know it says you can feint on the taking of a PK, but there seems to be a grey area as to what constitutes a feint.

We had a PK awarded to us, the girl taking the kick started forward (took 1 step) then stopped and backed to restart. Her intention wasn't to trick anybody, she just started on the wrong foot and wanted to start over, which I know that may not have been obvious to everybody else.

Does that equate to circumventing the LOTG or trickery? Should she have been cautioned and allowed to take the kick?

The ref blew the whistle and awarded and IFK from the point where she was when she backed up, which was at the top of the penalty area, not the PK spot. No cautions were issued.

Thanks.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

The referee acted incorrectly. While "trickery" is in the eye of the beholder, the referee may not award an IFK to the opponents if he thinks the taker of the kick committed unsporting behavior. He should have blown his whistle, isuued a caution and shown the yellow card and proceeded with the penalty kick. I wasn't there but this doesn't sound like trickery to me.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Mark,
I agree withRef Contarino, the ball is not yet in play and if the referee is in fact going to halt the PK to caution and show a yellow card it is for the misconduct of what I can only guess was USB. I too think it harsh and wonder at the referee's decision given your description. Possibly a protest could be appropriate as the law was misapplied here. A DFK offence resulting in a PK should not be summarily dismissed for a misstep by the pk kicker ! Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

I was all set to disagree with my colleagues, based on the recent change in Law 14 that says infringments by the kicker or kicking team result in an IFK for the opponents. So I went back and found that's not how the Law reads. I would have gotten the restart wrong:
[quote]
The player taking the penalty kick infringes the Laws of the Game:
? the referee allows the kick to proceed
? if the ball enters the goal, the kick is retaken
? if the ball does not enter the goal, the referee stops play and
restarts the match with an indirect free kick to the defending team,
from the place where the infringement occurred.
[endquote]

Here, the referee didn't allow the kick to proceed. So if the ref felt her actions were misconduct, he should caution her and show the card, and then allow the penalty kick to happen.

I wouldn't be too hard on the ref for the mistaken restart. Other refs at far higher levels have made mistakes based on this Law change. Go ask the Uzbekistan national team - and then ask them whether or not you should protest! (UZB wanted a goal awarded in a home/away fixture in World Cup qualifying. Instead, FIFA said since the referee made an error, the game should be replayed - which UZB went on to lose.)

I will agree this doesn't seem like misconduct to me. If she moved back and immediately restarted her run to the ball I'd be more concerned. In that scenario she could have caused the goalkeeper to commit, and could take unfair advantage of it. Do overs aren't misconduct.

Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

The referee should allow the kick to proceed. If ball goes in goal, caution kicker and rekick. If ball does not enter goal, caution to kicker and IFK from spot of infringement.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

In this case the referee stopped a penalty kick before it was taken, properly or improperly. He took some action against the kicker BEFORE allowing the kick to proceed.

At this point he must allow the kick to restart. The original kicker may take the kick or a new kicker may be chosen. Because the kick was not allowed to proceed the Law only supports starting again. What the referee on the day did was incorrect in Law.

Regards,

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

See Question: 14859