Question Number: 22915

Law 14 - Penalty kick 3/8/2010

RE: competitive Under 15

janet Vandale of calgary, alberta Canada asks...

This question is a follow up to question 22851

What should the ruling be in the situation where the 'other player' is the goalkeeper? We recently had a situation in which a PK awarded to the opposing team due to a foul our team had committed in the box. The pk was taken, our keeper made the initial save and the player who had taken the pk collected his own rebound and scored. The referee disallowed the goal (which I thought was correct), but the opposing coach went ballistic, claiming that the goal was valid. Can you clear this up for me?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Janet
The referee was wrong in this case to disallow the goal.
The 'other player' that you refer to can be the goalkeeper. So the penalty taker is allowed to play the ball again off a rebound from the goalkeeper. The penalty taker cannot play a rebound off the goal post or cross bar. It must touch another player on the field of play.

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

From Law 14 - The Penalty Kick:

Procedure
# After the players have taken positions in accordance with this Law, the
referee signals for the penalty kick to be taken
# The player taking the penalty kick must kick the ball forward
# He must not play the ball again until it has touched another player
# The ball is in play when it is kicked and moves forward

So, when the keeper makes a save, he has touched the ball, and he is definitely 'another player'. This touch means the kicker can touch it again.

The referee made a serious error, one that if the coach protested the call/game, might result in it being replayed.