CAIRO: Egypt midfielder Hosni Abd-Rabou will not be allowed to take his trade-mark penalty anymore as FIFA ruled against feinting before taking a spot kick.
Abd-Rabou, Egypt’s number one penalty taker, usually feints before shooting but will have to change his style after FIFA modified its regulations ahead of the World Cup.
"Feinting in the run-up to take a penalty kick to confuse opponents is permitted, however, feinting to kick the ball once the player has completed his run-up is now considered an infringement of Law 14 and an act of unsporting behavior for which the player must be cautioned," stated the new wording of Law 14.
Abd-Rabou, who never missed a penalty for Egypt, caused controversy in the 2010 African Cup of Nations semi-final against Algeria when he deceived goalkeeper Faouzi Chaouchi before hitting the opener.
Chaouchi reacted shockingly to Abd-Rabou’s feint and head-butted referee Coffi Codja, who was eventually banned for failing to send off the Algeria keeper.
