The penalty area (colloquially also known as the 18-yard box, penalty box or simply the box), is an area of an association football pitch. It is rectangular and extends 16.5 metres (54 ft) to each side of the goal and 16.5 metres (54 ft) in front of it. Within the penalty area is the penalty spot (or penalty mark), which is 11 metres (36 ft) from the goal line, directly in-line with the centre of the goal. A penalty arc adjoins the penalty area, and encloses the area within 9.15 metres (30.0 ft) from the penalty spot; it does not form part of the penalty area and is only of relevance during the taking of a penalty kick.
Previously, penalty areas extended the width of the field, but were reduced to their current dimensions in 1901.
Read more about Penalty Area: Functions
Famous quotes containing the words penalty and/or area:
“It is odd that the NCAA would place a school on probation for driving an athlete to class, or providing a loan, but would have no penalty for a school that violates Title IX, a federal law.”
—Cardiss L. Collins (b. 1931)
“Whether we regard the Women’s Liberation movement as a serious threat, a passing convulsion, or a fashionable idiocy, it is a movement that mounts an attack on practically everything that women value today and introduces the language and sentiments of political confrontation into the area of personal relationships.”
—Arianna Stassinopoulos (b. 1950)