What is the significance of the penalty area?

Answer 1

The penalty area is an 18 yard deep and 44 yard wide rectangle centered in front of the goal at either end of an Association Football pitch. This is the only area in which a defending goalkeeper may handle the ball. If a defending player commits a direct free kick offense within this area, the attacking team is awarded a penalty kick instead of a direct free kick.

There is a smaller area, 6 yards deep and 20 yards wide, called the goal area, inside of the penalty area.

Answer 2

The penalty area is bounded by lines 18 yards from the inside of each goal post, so the total width of the penatly area is 18 yards + 8 yards (width of the goal) + 18 yards = 44 yards.

The minimum width of a soccer field is 50 yards. So theoretically the penalty area could be as close as 3 yards from the touch line.

The maximum width of a soccer field is 100 yards, so the maximum distance to the touch line would be 28 yards.

For international matches, the width of the field must be between 70 and 80 yards, so the distance to the touch line would be between 13 and 18 yards.

Answer 3

The penalty area serves four purposes.

1. A goal keeper is allowed to deliberately handle the ball when it is within their penalty area.
2. Any Direct Free Kick restart, committed by a defender against an attacker, while in the penalty area, becomes a Penalty Kick restart instead.
3. The penalty area helps define the region where non-kicking and non-goalkeeper players must be during the taking of the penalty kick. (A. outside the penalty area, B. outside the penalty arc, and C. behind the ball)
4. During any defensive free kick or goal kick restart taken within the penalty area, no one may touch the ball until it leaves the penalty area. If they do, the restart is performed again.

Answer 4

The penalty area is 44 yards (40.23 m) wide and 18 yards (16.5 m) deep.

The goal area is 20 yards (18.3 m) wide and 6 yards (5.5 m) deep.

Answer 5

They are on the sides of the field.