Penalty (association football)

A penalty kick (more commonly known as a penalty) is a method of restarting play in association football, in which a player is allowed to take a shot on the goal while it is defended only by the opposing team's goalkeeper. It is awarded when a foul punishable by a direct free kick is committed by a player in his or her own penalty area. The shot is taken from the penalty mark, which is 12 yards (11 m) from the goal line and centred between the touch lines.

In practice, penalty kicks are converted to goals more often than not, even against world class goalkeepers. This means that penalty awards are often decisive, especially in low-scoring games.

Similar kicks are made in a penalty shootout in some tournaments to determine which team is victorious after a drawn match; these are governed by slightly different rules.

The ball is placed on the penalty mark, regardless of where in the penalty area the foul occurred. The player taking the kick is to be identified to the referee. Only the kicker and the defending team's goalkeeper are allowed to be within the penalty area; all other players must be within the field of play but outside the penalty area, behind the penalty mark, and a minimum of 10 yards (9.1 m) from the penalty mark (the penalty arc denotes 10 yards from the penalty mark). The goalkeeper must stand on the goal line between the goal posts until the ball is kicked. Lateral movement is allowed, but the goalkeeper is not permitted to come off the goal line by stepping or lunging forward until the ball is in play. The assistant referee responsible for the goal line where the penalty kick is being taken is positioned at the intersection of the penalty area and goal line, and assists the referee in looking for infringements and/or whether a goal is scored.

When the referee is satisfied that the players are properly positioned, he/she blows the whistle to indicate that the kicker may kick. The kicker may make feinting (deceptive or distracting) moves during the run-up to the ball, but once the run-up is completed he/she may no longer feint and must kick the ball. The ball must be stationary before the kick, and it must be kicked forward. The ball is in play once it is kicked and moves, and at that time other players may enter the penalty area. Once kicked, the kicker may not touch the ball again until it has been touched by another player of either team or goes out of play (including into the goal).

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