Question Number: 16639

Law 9 - The Ball in and out of Play 9/11/2007

RE: High School Soccer High School

John Lambert of Ayden, NC USA asks...

On a corner kick, must the ball stay in bounds in the air or can it be bent like Beckham? We had a corner that was kicked toward the goal and wound up in front of the goal for a header but the ref said the ball went out of bounds first. The ball never touched the ground. Ruling?

Answer provided by Referee Steve Montanino

The ball must remain in play, but it is allowed to bend. I know you're confused by this so let me elaborate.

The ball is in play until it completely crosses the goal line. That may occur in the air or on the ground. If your teammate took an in-swinging corner kick and the ball completely crossed the goal line in the air, then the referee must rule that the ball was out of play and the game shall restart with a goal kick. If any portion of the ball remained touching the imaginary plane the extends directly upward from the goal line then the ball would still be in play and the referee should allow play to continue.

Note there is NO requirement for the ball to ever hit the ground in order for it to be deemed out of play. This is important to understand, because it is the same for every area on the field. So long as the ball touches any part of the line or the plane created by that line the ball is considered to be in the area that line defines.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

The bend must be an travel inside the field. If the whole of the ball passes outside the touchline once the corner kick is taken it becomes a goal kick! Consider the touch and goal boundrylines as invisible 5 inch walls extending forever upward. If the AR or referee can CLEARLY see the whole of the ball has passed through the wall that ball is out of play.
Cheers