Search Results for: feint penalty kick

Interpretations/IFAB

FEINTING AT A PENALTY KICK

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Question:
During a penalty kick, the kicker taking the kick runs up and fakes a kick which fools the goalkeeper, quickly takes the kick, and scores and scores a goal. I know that would be unsporting behavior. What’s the correct restart if no other infringement happened? IFK for the opposing team?

USSF answer (August 10, 2011):
Law 14 tells us:

Infringements and Sanctions If the referee gives the signal for a penalty kick to be taken and, before the ball is in play, one of the following occurs:

the player taking the penalty kick infringes the Laws of the Game:
* the referee allows the kick to be taken
* if the ball enters the goal, the kick is retaken
* if the ball does not enter the goal, the referee stops play and the match is restarted with an indirect free kick to the defending team, from the place where the infringement occurred

To this the Interpretation of the Laws of the Game and Guidance for Referees (back of the book) tells us, under Law 14:

LAW 14- THE PENALTY KICK
Procedure
Feinting at the run-up to take a penalty kick to confuse opponents is permitted as part of football. However, feinting to kick the ball once the player has completed his run-up is considered an infringement of Law 14 and an act of unsporting behavior for which the player must be cautioned.

In brief, no, an indirect free kick is incorrect. It is a retake of the penalty kick (or the kick from the penalty mark) after the referee issues the caution. And a different member of the kicking team may take the kick.…

Interpretations/IFAB

FEINTING AT PENALTY KICKS

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Question:
I am reading many of your archives with much delight; I came across one in particular (Infringement by Kicker at Penalty Kick – Feb. 2010). You indicated that feinting of penalty kicks was going to be a topic of discussion at the IFAB meeting in March, 2010. I am curious, was there any further clarification or changes that came out of this meeting?

USSF answer (June 10, 2010):
Yes, there was further clarification, with good news for referees and bad news for crafty players. Here’s a quote from the Interpretation of the Laws of the Game and Guidelines for Referees (in the back of the Law book):

LAW 14- THE PENALTY KICK
Procedure
Feinting at the run-up to take a penalty kick to confuse opponents is permitted as part of football. However, feinting to kick the ball once the player has completed his run-up is considered an infringement of Law 14 and an act of unsporting behavior for which the player must be cautioned.

And see this text in the Memorandum on Law Changes 2010 published by USSF:

USSF Advice to Referees: Players may feint during the run to the ball (so long as this does not involve, in the opinion of the referee, excessive changes in direction or similar delays in the taking of the kick) but feinting actions once the run to the ball is complete are now to be considered a violation of Law 14 by the kicker. This would include clearly stopping and waiting for a reaction by the goalkeeper before taking the kick or any similar clear hesitation after the run to the ball is complete and before kicking the ball into play. In other words, once the kicker has reached the ball, the kick must be taken without hesitation or delay. In most cases, the referee should allow the kick to proceed and then decide on the appropriate action to take based on the outcome of the kick: if the ball went into the net, the goal is canceled and the kick retaken; if the ball did not go into the net, an indirect free kick is given to the opposing team where the violation occurred. In either case, before play is restarted, the kicker must be cautioned for unsporting behavior.

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Law 14 - Penalty Kick

FEINTING AT A PENALTY KICK

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Question:
This was forwarded to me, and if i understand the new interpretation, it might be legal – can’t say i like it, however.

==http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/sport/fussball/Darf-man-so-einen-Penalty-schiessen/story/14850459

Please evaluate and comment.

USSF answer (December 11, 2008):
An excerpt from Advice to Referees 14.9 is useful here:

Infringements after the referee’s signal but before the ball is in play may be committed by the kicker, the goalkeeper, or by any of their teammates.  Violations of Law 14 by the kicker in particular include back heeling the ball (14.12), running past the ball and then backing up to take the kick, excessively changing directions in the run to the ball or taking an excessively long run to the ball (which, in the opinion of the referee, results in an unnecessary delay in taking the kick), or making any motion of the hand or arm which (in the opinion of the referee) is clearly intended to confuse or misdirect the attention of the ‘keeper.  In almost all such cases, the referee should let the kick proceed and deal with the violation in accordance with the chart below [not included here], which outlines the proper restarts for clear infringements of Law 14.  However, in the case of a kicker creating an unnecessary delay in taking the kick, the referee should intervene, if possible, warn the kicker to proceed properly, and signal again for the restart.

In response to a question similar to yours, we provided this answer in 2001; it is fully in line with the latest guidance from the IFAB and FIFA:

USSF answer (April 25, 2001):
Feinting at a penalty kick, provided it is done without lapsing into unsporting behavior, is allowed. The judgment of unsporting behavior is at the discretion of the referee, who should remember that players are permitted to deceive their opponents at the taking of free kicks outside the penalty area using well rehearsed drills. The penalty kick should be treated in the same way. Remember that the penalty is awarded because of an offense by the defending team. One example of unsporting behavior would be to step over the ball, hesitate, and then bring the foot back again to kick the ball.

We might add to the earlier response that the kicker’s behavior must not, in the opinion of the referee, unduly delay the taking of the kick.

Any instance of unsporting behavior must be in the opinion of the referee, based on that particular act in that particular game at that particular moment of the game. Although there are certain actions that will always be unsporting behavior, we cannot arbitrarily set a list of actions that must be called as unsporting behavior in the case of feinting at a penalty kick. The referee has to take responsibility for some of his own decisions.

The officials on the game clearly believed the decision to be correct. In our opinion, the action of the kicker rides close to the edge but is legal. Apart from the fact that he did not do any of the things we list in the Advice as being examples of a kicker violation of Law 14 (see above) — there is no requirement that the kicker RUN to the ball at all. He could walk, trot, sprint, or even just stand behind the ball. So he ran to the ball and stopped. Suppose he had started walking toward the ball and then, from about 1-2 yards away, broke into a sprint before taking the kick. Would this have been illegal?

We invite our readers to go to the URL in question and decide for themselves the correct answer: http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/sport/fussball/Darf-man-so-einen-Penalty-schiessen/story/14850459

NOTE: The German title asks the question, “May someone shoot a penalty kick this way?”…

Kicks from the Mark

FEINTING AT A PENALTY KICK

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Question:
This is a question regarding Law 14. While I know the kicker can stutter step or even change direction as they approach the ball, I believe that the kicker cannot come to a complete stop and then proceed to continue to approach the ball for the kick. Is this correct or have I misinterpreted something?

USSF answer (September 28, 2008):
According to the Interpretations of the Laws of the Game and Guidelines for Referees in the back of the 2008/2009 Laws of the Game:

LAW 14- THE PENALTY KICK
Procedure
Feinting to take a penalty kick to confuse opponents is permitted as part of football. However, if, in the opinion of the referee, the feinting is considered an act of unsporting behavior, the player must be cautioned.

Feinting at a penalty kick is allowed, including a brief stop along the way to the ball.

The issue of “feinting” underwent a significant change in 2000. Prior to that time, the kicker was expected to make one continuous, uninterrupted move to the ball; in and after 2000 (based on the FIFA Q&A), certain forms of deception were allowed.

FIFA clarified in 2002 that the kicker may seek to misdirect (or feint) at the taking of a penalty kick. USSF, in a memo of October 14, 2004 on this subject, identified four specific actions by the kicker that could constitute misconduct:

– he delays unnecessarily after being signaled by the referee to proceed,
– he runs past the ball and then backs up to take the kick,
– he excessively changes direction during the run to the ball, or
– he makes any motion of the hand or arm which is clearly intended to misdirect the attention of the goalkeeper.
In such cases, the referee should suspend the procedure, caution the player involved, and then signal once again for the kick to be taken. If the kick has already been taken, the referee should order it retaken only if the ball enters the goal. The player must still be cautioned for his misconduct regardless of the outcome. If the kick is not to be retaken (see above), the game is restarted with an indirect free kick for the defending team where Law 14 was violated.
As to the goalkeeper leaving the line early, all referees are expected to order a retake of a penalty kick or a kick from the penalty mark if the ‘keeper’s movement off the line has interfered with the kicker’s ability to score the goal.

Referees should watch for the sorts of feinting described in the position paper of October 14, 2004, but should not consider all deceptive maneuvers to be a violation of Law 14 or of the guidelines on kicks from the penalty mark in the section of the Laws pertaining to “Procedures to Determine the Winner of a Match or Home-and-Away.” They should ensure that the run to the ball is initiated from behind the ball and the kicker is not using deception to delay unnecessarily the taking of the kick.  The kicker’s behavior must not, in the opinion of the referee, unduly delay the taking of the kick in any feinting tactic. Others would include changing direction or running such an an excessive distance such that, in the opinion of the referee, the restart was delayed; or making hand or arm gestures with the intent to deceive the kicker (e .g., pointing in a direction).

The referee should allow 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.

To this we can add only that more and more liberal interpretation is taking place throughout the world. The kicker is permitted to approach slowly, stop, take few quick steps, and shoot.…

2016 and Later Law Changes

Simultaneous Offenses on a Penalty Kick

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Reuben, a U13 – U19 referee, asks:

Law 14 has a specific provision for what happens if the goalkeeper and the kicker commit an offense at the same time. I am having difficulty understanding how this could occur, namely what the kicker’s offense might be (other than illegal feinting, which is separately dealt with). Is there a particular situation this provision is intended to address? Please advise.

Answer

Alert reader Keith caught an error in the original version of this answer.  It has been corrected.  Thanks.

We think you are either reading it incorrectly or asking the wrong question (or both).  The section to which you are referring specifically has to do with the kicker’s offense of feinting after the whistle but at the moment of the kick and the goalkeeper’s offense of coming off the line before the ball is in play.

The section basically breaks down into (a) here is what you do if the kicker offends, (b) here is what you do if the goalkeeper offends, and (c) here is what you do if both offend.  If (c) is what happened, then (1), if there was a goal, you restart with an IFK and caution the kicker; but (2), if there was no goal (which means ANY outcome other than the ball going into the net), you retake the PK and caution both the kicker and the goalkeeper.

This scenario was newly introduced to the Law in 2017-2018 and repeated in 2018-2019 without any changes or clarifications so the only conclusion to reach from this is that what it says is exactly what the International Board intended.  For any who might suggest that they don’t understand it, the language is very clear (see above).  For any who might suggest that it makes no sense and why did they specify it this way rather than some other way, the only conclusion we can reach for this is that what it says is exactly what the International Board intended … and they outrank us all.…

Interpretations/IFAB

FEINT? INJURY? CLEARLY DONE TO DECEIVE?

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Question:
The referee allowed this to stand. Should he have done so? If so, why? If not, why not?

Answer (June 4, 2014):
I was asked this question twice and answered the first one from the Laws, based on how the referee perceived the incident.

INTERPRETATION OF THE LAWS OF THE GAME AND GUIDELINES FOR REFEREES
//much deleted//
LAW 14 – THE PENALTY KICK
Procedure
Feinting in the run-up to take a penalty kick to confuse opponents is permitted as part of football. However, feinting to kick the ball once the player has completed his run-up is considered an infringement of Law 14 and an act of unsporting behavior for which the player must be cautioned.

The second time I decided to suggest something more commonsense, an idea supplied by a friend in Eastern New York (and I quote directly):
“as soon as that player goes down, my whistle sounds…
‘the player fell…so you have to go and check on his welfare…cause you know he might have hurt something…and since it’s clearly an attempt to deceive I might have a word with him about it in the process…”

A final comment: Whatever works for your personality as a referee and conforms with the Laws is always the best thing to do.…

Kicks from the Mark

MANAGING FEINTS (POSITION PAPER)

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Question:
The [recent] memo [on managing feinting by the kicker at a penalty kick or kick from the penalty mark] says that, if a kick from the penalty mark needs to be retaken, a teammate of the original kicker may take the kick if he/she is eligible. The memo goes on to say, ‘The kicker is, however, credited with having taken the kick….’ Does the blue wording refer to the original kicker? If so, this is a new interpretation, right? (I say that because our kicks-from-the-penalty-mark checklist says that the original kicker whose kick is retaken by a different eligible player is not counted as having taken a kick.)

USSF answer (July 13, 2010):
We regret any possible confusion. The source for the information is the checklist for kicks from the penalty mark:

“The original kicker whose kick is retaken by a different eligible player is not counted as having taken a kick.”

The language in question is in footnote 2 of the position paper and refers to a situation in which there is no retake. Therefore, “the kicker” in this case means the player who actually performed the kick, not the player who originally took the kick that had to be retaken. …

Advice to Referees

INFRINGEMENT BY KICKER AT PENALTY KICK

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Question:
At a major state recertification seminar today, we discussed deception on the taking of a PK – more specifically, the case when a player goes beyond legal deception and on to infringement.

The case in question is a player who approaches the ball, overruns it, then backs up.

My position was simple: LotG state that if the kicker infringes, the ref allows the kick to be taken, and either orders a rekick or orders an IFK out, depending on if the ball entered the goal or not.

Our instructor stated that the correct procedure is to blow the whistle at the point when the kicker backs up, without allowing the kick to be taken, and award the IFK immediately. He stated this was direction from FIFA.

At a break, I asked our guest speaker, a former FIFA ref, and that ref did not know. It was suggested that I contact you.

If our instructor was correct, please direct me to the appropriate FIFA publication. I pride myself on knowing the laws and would like to understand this better.

USSF answer (February 8, 2010):
We are not aware of any changes in Law 14 as published for 2009-2010:

Infringements and Sanctions
If the referee gives the signal for a penalty kick to be taken and, before the ball is in play, one of the following occurs:

the player taking the penalty kick infringes the Laws of the Game:
* the referee allows the kick to be taken
* if the ball enters the goal, the kick is retaken
* if the ball does not enter the goal, the referee stops play and the match is restarted with an indirect free kick to the defending team, from the place where the infringement occurred

See also this excerpt from Advice to Referees 14.9 INFRINGEMENTS OF LAW 14:

Infringements after the referee’s whistle but before the ball is in play may be committed by the kicker, the goalkeeper, or by any of their teammates.  Violations of Law 14 by the kicker in particular include back heeling the ball (14.12), running past the ball and then backing up to take the kick, excessively changing directions in the run to the ball or taking an excessively long run to the ball (which, in the opinion of the referee, results in an unnecessary delay in taking the kick), or making any motion of the hand or arm which (in the opinion of the referee) is clearly intended to confuse or misdirect the attention of the ‘keeper.  In almost all such cases, the referee should let the kick proceed and deal with the violation in accordance with the chart [given in the excerpt from the Law, above], which outlines the proper restarts for clear infringements of Law 14.  However, in the case of a kicker creating an unnecessary delay in taking the kick, the referee should intervene, if possible, warn the kicker to proceed properly, and signal (whistle) again for the restart.

So, only in the case of the kicker taking an excessively long run to the ball should the referee intervene (“if possible”) before the kick is taken — the implication being that, if intervention even in this case is not possible, the referee follows the general advice on Law 14 violations. The Federation has dealt with one or more aspects of this situation in Memos in 2005, 2007, and as recently as August 2009 (a “stutter step kick” with a clip).

NOTE: Feinting at penalty kicks is going to be a topic of discussion at the IFAB meeting of March 6, 2010. it is possible that this answer might change based on the outcome of the discussion.…

Law 14 - Penalty Kick

ENCROACHMENT ON PENALTY KICKS 2

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Question:
A video from Week 23 in review shows an attacker clearly entering the PA to soon during a PK, due to the feint. This was clearly a violation of Law 14, yet the goal stood. The violation and the non-call are both very common occurrences. My first question is: At the taking of a penalty kick would you ever bother to call a foul(on a defender or attacker)for entering the PA by a few feet to soon; if a goal was scored, of if the keeper obtained control, or if the shot went across the end line? In all instances this foul seems to be trifling to me, but without guidance from the Laws different referees will call this same type of play differently. My second question, assuming you agree it is acceptable for me to view this as a trifling offense, is why have the law if we are not going to enforce it consistently? Many coaches, players and parents/fans do read the Laws, and it is reasonable for them to expect the laws to be enforced.

When referees don’t enforce the Laws consistently it undermines our credibility, and in my opinion rightfully so. My humble suggestion would be to take the Law 14 sentences “… infringes the Laws of the game:”, and add the phrase “and interferes with the taking of the kick or the defending of the kick:”

USSF answer (December 21, 2009):
We beg to differ with your statement that no call was made. In point of fact, players from both teams enter the penalty area in both Clip 1 and Clip 2 from Week in Review 23. While the encroachment by these players is clearly against the procedure mandated in Law 14, the referee is allowed to exercise discretion and determine whether the encroachment has had an effect on the kick. In these two cases, the answer for the referees on those games was that the infringement was trifling and had no effect.

As to changes in the wording of the Law, those are not up to us but to the International Football Association Board, the body that makes the rules.…

Illegal Gamesmanship

MISCONDUCT AT A PENALTY KICK

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Question:
I watched this one from the side line and wanted to know the correct application of the rules.

During a U13 girls match, the referee awarded a penalty kick. After the referee gave the signal but before the girl kicked it, the coach of the kicking team yelled out for the team to “watch #2”. The entire team turned to the coach and yelled, “got it, watch #2”. As they yelled, the girl took the penalty kick and scored while the referee and everyone on the defending team was confused and distracted by the yelling. The referee allowed the goal.

I thought the correct call should have been to stop the play, award a yellow card to the team captain (caution the coach as well) for unsportsmanlike conduct, and make the girl retake the penalty kick. I spoke with other refs and they disagree and would have awarded the yellow card to the coach, taken away the kick and awarded a IFK to the defending team. What’s the correct call? I see too much gamesmanship starting to creep into these youth games

USSF answer (May 9, 2008):
Some aspects of gamesmanship are perfectly legitimate, such as players from the team with the ball feinting at free kicks or giving misleading information to deceive or distract their opponents during the attack. Giving misleading information would be when a player calls for the ball, knowing full well that the teammate will not pass it. (Although it does not apply in this situation, the defending team is NOT allowed to do the same thing. That would be unsporting behavior.) The referee must learn to differentiate between those tactics which are legal and those which are not.

This orchestrated shouting, clearly an unfair tactic and counter to the Spirit of the Game, was a violation of the penalty kick procedure by a teammate of the player taking the kick. The referee should have disallowed the goal, certainly warned and possibly cautioned at least one of the kicking team players, and at least warned if not expelled the kicking team’s coach for behaving irresponsibly. Because the ball entered the goal, the kick would be retaken. (If the ball had not entered the goal, the referee would still have warned or cautioned the kicking team player, warned or expelled the coach, and would then have awarded an indirect free kick to the defending team from the place where the infringement occurred; in this case at the place just outside the penalty area where the player had been.)…