I was watching the Finals of the Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday, which went to a penalty kick shootout won by the Ivory Coast over Ghana.
The shootout was probably the most exciting one that I’ve ever watched. The score was tied 8-8 after all 10 position players had taken their turn. Now it was time for the goalkeepers to shoot. While some goalies can be very good at PK’s, the position players are typically better at them. This appeared to be the case for both teams, as both GK’s were placed last by their teams in the shooting order. The Ghanian GK was the first to attempt a kick. His shot was turned away by the Ivorian GK. After stopping the shot, the Ivorian feigned an injury. It was just a bit of gamesmanship and he eventually got up and nailed the winning shot. But this led to a series of questions from me.
What would have happened if the Ivory Coast GK was indeed injured on the play? Would the Ivory Coast have the ability to replace him with another player to take the shot, or would they just forfeit their turn?
What happens if the score was still tied after all 11 active players took their turn? Do they then go to the benches, or do the active 11 just go again?
What happens if 1 team is down to 10 (or even 9) men because of red cards, and it’s time for the 11th player to go?
They go back through the team again until the deadlock is broken. A game not that long ago went to 16 shots and I started to wonder if they’d bring on the mascots to have a go
Specifically:
Injury to goalkeeper: can replace if they haven’t used all of their substitutes. A bit unclear here, though, as it may just be for goalkeeping side of things, not shooting a PK.
Tie after all 11 went: start over with the same players, though the order may change.
1 team down at start of shoot out: other team eliminates enough players to make it even.
A bit more research on The Guardian’s “You are the ref” series, where they pose questions to referees, shows two questions, one related to a sending off during a shootout and the other to an injury.
It seems that another player can be nominated to take the shot, but it is possible that this can only be from players that have already taken a shot. This does, however, beg the question of what happens if it is the first player that gets injured.
Here are the actual rules, taken from the current FIFA rulebook:
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 eligible 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 offi cials 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 centre circle
The goalkeeper who is the team-mate 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
Also a field player would have had to take the GKs position in goal (If all the subs were used up). If he were faking an injury to allow a ‘real’ player to take the final shot…that’s taking a slight chance.
While it’s obviously not ethical, it looks like there are ways to game the system. For example, if you only trust 9 players to take penalties, why not have the other 2 pick up red cards right at the final whistle? Easiest way is to have them get into a fight with each other.
