I spotted a little gem in Nick lve's report of the Reading-Colchester match at the Madejski Stadium.
Reading were awarded a penalty which was taken by new signing John Solako, only to be saved by the Colchester goalkeeper. However, the goalkeeper was adjudged to have come off his line before the ball was kicked and so the penalty had to be retaken. Nicky Forster, who then scored with the re-take, said: "I've never seen a penalty kick being retaken for the keeper coming off his line. I think Hughesy may have had a word with the linesman although his flag went straight up, so it would have had to be retaken even if John had scored'.
I sometimes agonise that, as referees, we accuse players too readily of not knowing the laws of the game, but here is the proof of the pudding. I wasn't at the game but I saw the incident on Meridian Television and Nicky Forster was right to say the assistant referee raised his flag, not in the air but to his chest which is the preferred procedure in these circumstances. However, he was wrong to say this meant that, even if John Solako had scored, the kick would have had to be retaken. If the ball had gone into the net, the goal would have counted.
There are a whole combination of offences that can occur at a penalty, with a variety of alternative decisions that the referee can take. There is a great deal that the referee must keep his eye on and be aware of.
To start with, there are the conditions that have to be met before the referee blows his whistle. As we know, the goalkeeper must be on his line. All the other players, with the exception of the kicker, must be behind the ball, outside the penalty area and at least 10 yards from the penalty mark. The only function of the arc outside the penalty area is as a guide to the referee that players are 10 yards from the ball.
What must be remembered is that the ball is not in play when the referee
blows his whistle but when the ball is kicked forward. One problem is when players rush into the penalty area after the whistle is blown but before the kick is taken. This is known as 'encroachment'. The referee's job is to spot any encroachment. However, once he has blown his whistle he won't stop the kick but wait to see the outcome before deciding what action to take.
If it is a defender who encroaches, the referee will order the kick to be retaken only if it is missed or saved. If it is an attacker who encroaches and a goal is scored, it will have to be retaken, but not if it is missed. The objective always is not to give an advantage to the offending team. So what if players of both sides encroach before the ball is kicked? The answer is that the kick would be retaken.
There are some other situations that can occur. If the goalkeeper saves the shot and the ball rebounds to the penalty-taker, he can play it again but he can't if the rebound is off the uprights or crossbar, If he did so, then it would be an indirect free kick to the defending side. If the ball rebounded to be played by one of his team mates who had encroached in either of those situations, then this would also be an indirect free kick to the opponents.
There are even more situations that can occur at penalty kicks that I don't have space to go into. As can be seen, it is a complicated area of law, so perhaps we should excuse Nicky Forster for not getting it right.
Dick Sawdon Smith