Question:
re Poland v Greece game 09/06/12. I feel the Law should be changed inasmuch that the team who has their goalkeeper sent off for an infringement resulting in a penalty cannot replace him/her until after the penalty has been taken.
The defending team is not penalised for deliberate foul by keeper that could have resulted in a goal by replacing with another keeper. The one to suffer is the player removed to enable the team to play with 10 men still.
Answer (June 9, 2012):
Law 3 requires that one of the players on each team be a goalkeeper, so a team cannot be required to play without a ‘keeper. The Law also permits substitution at ANY stoppage of play, such as a send-off or a penalty kick. After the player being replaced (in this case a field player) has left the field, the substitute may enter and begin to play. As there was no goalkeeper, some player must become the goalkeeper to meet the requirement of the Law. Your suggestion is interesting but runs counter to over 100 years of Law and tradition and would not be in the best interest of the game.
