Penalty Kick “Feints” Deemed Unsporting and Banned for World Cup

The practice of penalty kick “feinting”, i.e. a penalty taker faking a shot before taking the real kick to confuse their opponents, has been banned by the International Football Association Board in advance of the World Cup 2010 tournament.

Players will still be allowed to feint during the run up to a penalty kick, but when the run up is complete feinting will be a yellow card offense.

If a goal is scored following one of these banned feint moves, the goal will be disallowed and the penalty will have to be retaken. This will apply both during normal match play and in penalty shoot outs.

The International Football Association Board took this decision because they feel that the practice is “unsporting”, and should therefore be an offense.

As well as banning penalty feints, the IFAB have also given additional authority to the fourth official. The role of the fourth official is generally to oversee off pitch behaviors, such as substitutions, management activity and the actions of players on the bench. He will now also be able to make decisions about matters on the pitch and to generally assist the referee. This is an extension of a move that is already being trialled in certain competitions. It can then be taken on next season on a voluntary basis by football associations should they want to. It has been stated that this is unlikely to happen in the English and Scottish leagues next season, however.