When Barca won the Spanish super cup Mbappe refused to give barcelona a guard of honour he forced all Madrid players out of the pitch, that was where Madrid's down fall started. If you cannot respect champions you don't deserve to be champions
Meanwhile, look at Vini Jr making sure he congratulates every Barca player class act πππ
The curved line outside the penalty box is not decorative. It has one job. And it is more important than most people realise.
It is called the penalty arc.
That small D-shaped curve sitting just outside the top of the penalty area. A lot of fans have even looked at it thousands of times without ever stopping to ask what it actually does.
Here is the answer.
Under Law 14 of the IFAB Laws of the Game, every player except the penalty taker and the goalkeeper must be at least 9.15 metres away from the penalty spot when a penalty kick is taken.
The arc is simply how that rule is drawn onto the pitch.
The penalty spot is 11 metres from the goal line. The penalty area itself only extends 5.5 metres behind that spot toward the halfway line.
Without the arc, a defender could legally stand right on the edge of the box, just 5.5 metres from the spot, and that would violate the required distance without technically breaking any visible boundary.
The arc closes that gap. It is drawn with a 9.15-metre radius centred exactly on the penalty mark, bulging outward to guarantee that every player behind it is the correct distance away.
That is its only function. It plays no role in free kicks, corners or any other situation in open play. The moment the penalty is taken, the arc becomes irrelevant again until the next one.
Referees check it before every penalty kick. Players who step inside it before the ball is struck are penalised for encroachment.
My name is Ajoje. I am a FIFA Licensed Agent and International Sports Lawyer. I write on the Law and Business of Football, a lot. Repost and Follow if you want to read more posts like this.