Question Number: 34326

Other 9/1/2021

RE: REC Adult

MARV of Bowmanville, Ontario Canada asks...

This question is a follow up to question 34319

Regarding the question from Referee Dawson...I have a copy of the 1998 LOTG (Green Book). The Infringement /Sanctions section of Law 14 reads:

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

A team-mate of the player taking the kick enters the penalty area or moves in front of or within 10 yards of the penalty mark:

-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 kick is not retaken
-if the ball rebounds from the goalkeeper, the crossbar or goalpost and is touched by this player, the referee stops play and restarts the match with an indirect kick to the defending team"

Is this the poorly worded section of the 1998 LOTG that Referee Dawson remembers??

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Marv,
You are my hero lol It is exactly that part. I recall a heated discussion at a well-attended seminar over that exact point. LAW 10 saying no team should benefit if they broke a law before scoring a goal. That small bit suggested it was OK to infringe the PK as long as that infringing player did not recover it directly. What DID occur was the PK missed, the keeper saved but gave up a rebound, the ball deflected back to the pk kicker who was being engaged by a defender who in the challenge the ball went out wide to an attacker who scored that attacker had infringed earlier but the goal stood as he had not DIRECTLY interfered and the PK had missed. Nice to know I might be aged a few years, lost a few steps but my mind has not totally lost it. lol

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Marv,

Thanks for that bit of research. What's interesting is that the wording was definitely not like that in the 1997 edition of the laws (of which I have a full copy) and there is nothing in the 1998 IFAB meeting minutes reflecting this changed wording. So it seems the IFAB changed the law but without recording it in the minutes.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Marv
Thanks for your contribution which our good colleague Referee Dawson is delighted with. In the digital era these archives are much easier to build up and manage that the old *hard copy* books.

One of tne concerns I have is that with all the constant change and changing back there can be confusion among referees with some parts of the law.

Case is point is deliberate handling. Some of the advice in the recent past has been removed and replaced. I’m even struggling to stay abreast of the changes by having to revisit the law book constantly. I know many referees do not do that and take what has been said to them at previous seminars as the law!