Guidelines for Awarding the 6.5 m Penalty

Comments about this discussion:

Started 11 Jun 04:18

I would like to start a discussion on when a 6.5 m penalty should be given. In the German league, this is currently applied very inconsistently. Some referees rarely, if ever, award it, while others give it quite frequently (I would count myself among the latter). The vague wording in the international rulebook under section 14B.9.2 states:
“If legal play would have led to a direct chance to score a goal, a 6.5 m is given. An attacking player is fouled in the opposition goal area while in a strong position to score. An attacking player is fouled when moving towards the opposition goal with a single opponent in front.”

I find this very unclear, and even the two listed examples don’t really help to address the many grey areas.

Therefore, I propose the following guidelines:

A 6.5 m penalty should be given in the following situations:

If the attacker has taken a shot and this shot is illegally blocked by a defender, for example by standing on the ground, a 6.5 m is awarded if the ball was on a direct path toward the goal, even if the goalkeeper was still in position.
If the last defender fouls the attacker from behind or from the side during a shot attempt, a 6.5 m is awarded, even if the goalkeeper was still in position. It must be assumed that the attacker would have had a promising shot on goal.
If the goalkeeper fouls the attacker during a shot attempt, and it is assumed that the attacker would have had a promising shot on goal, a 6.5 m is awarded.

I’m looking forward to hearing your feedback!

Comment 19 Jun 04:57

The above situations are nearly covered by rule "14B.9.3 Penalty Goal".

Probably rule "14B.9.3" need only a small rewording:

old. "...and if, in the opinion of the referee, the ball was traveling directly toward the goal and ..."

new: "...and if, in the opinion of the referee, the ball would traveling directly toward the goal and ..."

Comment 19 Jun 05:09

These are different talking points. Malte's suggestions refer to 6,50 shots, not penalty goals. I like the clearer wording proposed by Malte, although in the first bullet point i would exclude the example, there's none needed when "illegally blocked" is already there.

Comment 19 Jun 05:46

I got partually your point.

new: "...and if, in the opinion of the referee, the ball would traveling directly toward the goal if shot or would shot and ..." or simular.

"the last defender fouls" and "the goalkeeper fouls" - every foul is illegal play.

So far "Attacking from behind or from the side" is legal defending - or if you like to call this illigal therefore only attacking from front (face to face) would be allowed - A suggestion for a complete new rule and should go for a seperate discussion.

A "goalkeeper" does not exist in this situation, it is only a defending player next to the goal. The same as "last defender"?

Comment 23 Jun 20:10

14B.4 Number Of Players
A team on the eld consists of up to ve players with a team requiring a minimum
of three players to begin a match. Player substitutions are possible at any time with
the substituting player entering the eld at the same location only after the other has
completely left it. It is not necessary to indicate substitutions to the referee. Each player
can be the goalkeeper at any time. The goalkeeper has no special rights.

I think our rulebook still identifies that someone can be playing "goalkeeper". I think based on this wording, it is ok to refer to a goalkeeper and last defender as separate positions.

A 6.5 m penalty should be given in the following situations:

If an attacker’s shot is illegally blocked by a defender, such as a player who is not riding their unicycle, a 6.5 metre penalty shot is awarded if the ball was travelling directly toward the goal, even if the goalkeeper was in position.
If the last defender fouls the attacker during a shot attempt, a 6.5 m is awarded, even if a goalkeeper was still in position. It must be assumed that the attacker would have had a promising shot on goal.
If a goalkeeper fouls the attacker during a shot attempt, and it is assumed that the attacker would have had a promising shot on goal, a 6.5 m is awarded.

I changed THE goalkeeper to A goalkeeper to align with the fact that anyone can play goalkeeper (or no one can play goalkeeper)

Comment 25 Jun 15:24

Thanks for raising this discussion. I agree that the rules are somewhat vague.

If I understand correctly what you're trying to say, this could be - in my opinion - summarized by one rule:

If illegal play does prevent a (promising) shot attempt or a (promising) shot from traveling towards the goal and only one defending player would have had the chance to (legally) defend the shot, a 6.5m shall be given.

In my opinion, the "promising" is not necessary and I would make the rules slightly more strict.

About your suggestions Steven:

I do not really like the "such as a player who is not riding their unicycle" as in my opinion also a high stick would count as illegal play and it may not be clear, whether this is covered by this rule

Comment 25 Jun 18:26

If a defending player blocks a shot on goal they can bring their stick to the height of the crossbar. For it to be a high stick they would need to bring the stick above the crossbar height.

If they block a ball that is higher than crossbar height with their stick would this shot have any chance of going in? I would think it was not a promising shot on goal so didn't deserve a 6.5m

Comment 25 Jun 18:31

That being said I'm more than happy to remove it. I recorded Malte's original wording to give an example

Comment 27 Jun 13:00

Sorry for not being entirely clear: When the defending player is several meters in front of the goal and the ball is descending, there may be a good chance that it goes into the goal.

Comment 28 Jun 04:39

The 6.5 m penalty is the most complicate rule with vague wording. This rule does't say "examples", it gives use a complited list of 2 situations preventing a direct chance to score and "should be punished with a 6.5 m penalty:..."

If legal play (Comment: "by the attacking player") needs a illegal play by the defending team (Comment: called "foul" and we have allready a lot of fouls with exeptitions described). We already have a good wording in the rule for Penalty Goal: "If the defending team prevents a goal from being scored through an illegal play and if..."

Currently I am not sure what is suggested, cancel the current list of 2 situations or add 3 more situations and should it remain a completed list or a not completed list of examples for situations. When clear I will try to create a table with diffent fouls happen at diffent locations on the playing field.

Comment 30 Jun 06:31

14B.9.2 6.5 M
If legal play would have led to a direct chance to score a goal, a 6.5 m is given.

A 6.5 m penalty should be given in the following situations:

If an attacker’s shot is illegally blocked by a defender, a 6.5 metre penalty shot is awarded if the ball was travelling directly toward the goal, even if the goalkeeper was in position.
If the last defender fouls the attacker during a shot attempt, a 6.5 m is awarded, even if a goalkeeper was still in position. It must be assumed that the attacker would have had a promising shot on goal.
If a goalkeeper fouls the attacker during a shot attempt, and it is assumed that the attacker would have had a promising shot on goal, a 6.5 m is awarded.

The ball is placed at the 6.5 m mark. A player of the defending team goes to the goal
and must sit with the bottom of the wheel of their unicycle within 0.5 m of the goal line.
The other team chooses a player to shoot the 6.5 m. All other players must leave the
goal area. Opposing players must keep a distance with their unicycles and their sticks of at least 2.0 m from the ball.

After the referee's whistle the goalkeeper must ride the unicycle freely and
not rest on the goal. The 6.5 m is direct. The player executing the 6.5 m may only touch
the ball once. The ball shall be hit with the stick, not dragged, flicked or lifted on the
stick. If no goal is scored, play continues as soon as the ball touches the post, the keeper
touches the ball or the ball crosses the extended goal line. At this moment, the shooting player may play the ball again. A 6.5 m awarded at the end
of, or after a time period has ended, is still executed but play does not continue after an
unsuccessful shot.

Comment 30 Jun 15:42

I agree that the current wording of 14B.9.2 leads to inconsistent interpretations. In my view, this is not due to the rule's underlying intention, but rather to the fact that it only lists two specific scenarios—without clarifying whether this list is exhaustive.

In practice, we regularly encounter situations that do not exactly match the listed cases but clearly fulfill the intention of the rule: that illegal play has prevented a clear chance to score.

The suggestions from Malte, as well as the later wording attempts by Nicolai and Steven, go in the right direction in my opinion. They help clarify the rule and make its application more consistent, without changing its core principle: a 6.5 m penalty should be awarded when illegal play prevents a promising shot or shot attempt on goal — not necessarily a guaranteed goal.

I would personally support the following points:

Keeping a general formulation (“If illegal play prevents a clear chance to score…”),
Supplementing it with a non-exhaustive list of typical situations, as proposed in this thread,
Maintaining a clear distinction between the 6.5 m rule and the Penalty Goal rule, as currently done.

Based on this direction, here is one possible way the updated rule text could be written:

14B.9.2 6.5 m Penalty

A 6.5 m penalty is awarded if illegal play prevents a clear chance to score a goal.

The following situations are examples and not a complete list:

• An attacking player is fouled in the goal area while in a position to shoot.
• An attacking player is fouled while moving toward the goal with only one defender in front.
• An attacker’s shot on goal is illegally blocked (e.g., by a defender who is not riding their unicycle) while the ball is traveling directly toward the goal.
• The last defender commits a foul during a shot attempt, regardless of the goalkeeper’s position.
• A goalkeeper fouls the attacker during a shot attempt in front of the goal.

A 6.5 m awarded at the end of or after a time period has ended is still executed, but play does not continue after an unsuccessful shot.

The 6.5 m shot is direct. The player must hit the ball with the stick (no flicks or lifts) and may only touch the ball once. If no goal is scored, play resumes as soon as the ball touches the goalpost, is touched by the goalkeeper, or crosses the extended goal line. The goalkeeper must ride the unicycle freely and must not lean on the goal during the attempt.