Question:
I have a question on a subject that has come up before – kicks from the mark. I attended a tournament in NJ this weekend that claimed to follow USSF/FIFA rules. In the event of a tie, their rules said that “If a clear winner is not decided after the overtime periods, penalty kicks will be taken in accordance with FIFA “Taking of Kicks from the Penalty Mark””. So far, so good, but the rules then state:
o Penalty Kicks would continue as follows:
– Referee will determine goal to be used.
– Both coaches will select 5 players from their team – Only those players on the field at the end of overtime will
be able to participate in the penalty shoot-out.
– Referee will determine by coin toss of which team shoots first and what goal will be used.
– Five rounds of kicks will be taken.
– In the event a winner is not determined, coaches select the order of 5 of the remaining 6 players on the field at the end of overtime. Sudden Victory will follow.
– In the event a winner is still not determined. The coach will select any 1 players with “sudden victory” rules in effect. A player may not shoot a second time until all players have shot once.Unless I am mistaken, this tournament’s version of “kicks from the mark” may be wrong in three or four areas: (1) they require the coach to select five kickers at the start; (2) after five kicks, they require the coach to select five more kickers; (3) in the second round, they also require the coach to select an order of kickers (and I was told by an official that an order would also be required in the first round); and (4) if it is tied after ten kicks, they say that the coach will then select one player – I assume this means they assume that only the ten field players will be used and that the GK will be skipped, thus a kicker must be selected on Round 11�- otherwise there would be no need to select a player following the first ten kicks (however, the first part seems to contradict the following part that a player can’t shoot again until everyone has shot once).
In the past couple of years this is the fifth tournament I have attended where officials (and many referees) have insisted that teams must submit five kickers, plus the order in which they will shoot, prior to the beginning of a “PK shootout”. Perhaps coincidentally, perhaps not, three of the five events were in New Jersey. My assumption is that some people have been confused by NFHS rules and somehow combined elements from each, and that the mistaken procedure has then been passed along to other tournaments. By the way, perhaps of more concern, one of the officials who believed these procedures are correct said: “I have been involved in five high-level tournaments in the past year and every one of them required that the coach submit a list of five kickers in order prior to the start.”
Could you please give your comments on the procedures used by this tournament. Also, do tournaments following USSF rules have the right to alter procedures such as kicks from the mark?
And in a follow-on question:
A follow-up on the questions I sent to you earlier today. I found out that prior to OT, the center referee told both coaches that if the game went to OT, no coaches would even be allowed on the field for the kicks from the mark. Presumably they would just give him a list of the kickers and the order. I know that the list and order part is wrong, but is there anything in the rules at all to allow him to prohibit coaches from being on the field during the kicks? This again is supposed to be USSF rules.
USSF answer (June 18, 2007):
In the 2007 Laws of the Game, under “PROCEDURES TO DETERMINE THE WINNER OF A MATCH OR HOME-AND-AWAY,” we find:
Kicks from the penalty mark
Procedure
– The referee chooses the goal at which the kicks will be taken
– The referee tosses a coin and the team whose captain wins the toss decides whether to take the first or the second kick
– The referee keeps a record of the kicks being taken
– Subject to the conditions explained below, both teams take five kicks
– The kicks are taken alternately by the teams
– If, before both teams have taken five kicks, one has scored more goals than the other could score, even if it were to complete its five kicks, no more kicks are taken
– If, after both teams have taken five kicks, both have scored the same number of goals, or have not scored any goals, kicks continue to be taken in the same order until one team has scored a goal more than the other from the same number of kicks
– A goalkeeper who is injured while kicks are being taken from the penalty mark and is unable to continue as goalkeeper may be replaced by a named substitute provided his team has not used the maximum number of substitutes permitted under the competition rules
– With the exception of the foregoing case, only players who are on the field of play at the end of the match, which includes extra time where appropriate, are allowed to take kicks from the penalty mark
– Each kick is taken by a different player and all eligible players must take a kick before any player can take a second kick
– An eligible player may change places with the goalkeeper at any time when kicks from the penalty mark are being taken
– Only the eligible players and match officials are permitted to remain on the field of play when kicks from the penalty mark are being taken
– All players, except the player taking the kick and the two goalkeepers, must remain within the center circle
– The goalkeeper who is the teammate of the kicker must remain on the field of play, outside the penalty area in which the kicks are being taken, on the goal line where it meets the penalty area boundary line – Unless otherwise stated, the relevant Laws of the Game and International F.A. Board Decisions apply when kicks from the penalty mark are being taken
– When a team finishes the match with a greater number of players than their opponents, they shall reduce their numbers to equate with that of their opponents and inform the referee of the name and number of each player excluded. The team captain has this responsibility.
– Before the start of kicks from the penalty mark the referee shall ensure that only an equal number of players from each team remain within the center circle and they shall take the kicks.
Further along in the 2007 Laws of the Game, under “GUIDELINES FOR REFEREES,” which will replace the old IFAB/FIFA Q&A, we find:
PROCEDURES TO DETERMINE THE WINNER OF A MATCH OR HOME-AND-AWAY
Kicks from the penalty mark
Procedure
– The kicks from the penalty mark are not part of the match.
– The goal may be changed only if it becomes unusable
– Once all eligible players have taken a kick from the penalty mark, the same sequence does not have to be followed as in the first round of kicks.
– Each team is responsible for selecting the players from those on the field of play at the end of the match and the order in which they will take the kicks.
– A player other than the goalkeeper who is injured may not be substituted during the taking of kicks from the penalty mark,
– If the goalkeeper is sent off during the taking of kicks from the penalty mark, he shall be replaced by a player who finished the match
– A player, substitute or substituted player may be cautioned or sent off during the taking of kicks from the penalty mark
– The referee shall not abandon the match if a team remains with less than 7 players during the taking of kicks from the penalty mark.
– If a player is injured or sent off during the taking of kicks from the penalty marks and the team has one player less, the referee should not reduce the number of players taking kicks for the other team. An equal number of players from each team is required only at the start of the taking of kicks from the penalty mark.
The United States Soccer Federation has not established any rules for kicks from the penalty mark that differ from those above. Some competitions may introduce slight variations, but these are not approved by the Federation. If a referee accepts an assignment in these competitions, he or she must follow the rules of that competition.
There are some universally-accepted points of procedure for kicks from the penalty mark that are not listed above:
The team (coach) may “select” from among those players on the field or temporarily off the field at the end of full time the players who will be the first five to kick, but the referee should not accept any list of players from either team. The same is true for the players who will take any kicks subsequent to the initial five for each team.
Coaches are allowed on the field for the initial consultation with their team prior to the first kick from the penalty mark. The referee may not ban them from the field unless they have behaved irresponsibly. They must leave the field of play when the kicks are about to begin.
