Purpose

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to correctly manage the mechanics of a penalty kick, including the 2025/26 assistant referee positioning change.

Lesson Explanation

Law 14 governs the penalty kick, awarded when a direct free kick offence (Part 2, Lesson 1) or a handball offence (Part 2, Lesson 6) is committed by a player inside their own penalty area, regardless of the ball’s position at the time.

The ball is placed on the penalty mark; the kicker must be clearly identified; the defending goalkeeper must remain on the goal line, facing the kicker, between the goalposts, without touching the goalposts, crossbar, or goal net, until the ball is kicked; and all other players must be outside the penalty area, outside the penalty arc, and behind the ball, at least 9.15m from the penalty mark.

A genuinely important 2025/26 Law change, previewed in Part 1, Lesson 4: where VAR is in use, the assistant referee is now positioned in line with the penalty mark on the touchline (rather than on the goal line as previously common practice), since this is effectively the offside line for a rebound and the VAR system now takes sole responsibility for monitoring goalkeeper encroachment at the taking of the kick — a genuinely deliberate division of labor between the on-field assistant referee (positioning for a rebound) and VAR (monitoring the goalkeeper).

If the goalkeeper encroaches (moves off the goal line before the ball is kicked) and the kick is missed or saved, the kick is retaken; if the kick is scored despite encroachment, the goal stands. If an attacking teammate encroaches into the penalty area or arc before the kick and the ball enters the goal, the kick is retaken; if missed, the kick is not retaken and an indirect free kick is awarded to the defending team instead. A “double touch” — the kicker touching the ball a second time before it touches another player — results in an indirect free kick to the opposing team from where the second touch occurred.

Practice Questions