Question Number: 24652

Law 17 - Corner Kick 3/5/2011

RE: youth Under 17

chris borne of exeter, uk asks...

My team had a goal disallowed by the assistant ref. It was a headed goal direct from a corner. The ref had blown his whistle for the corner to be taken. The assistant said that the ball was not inside or touching the arc when the corner was taken, but surely he should of advised before the corner kick was taken. I have never seen a goal disallowed in the premier league for this offence. Is this correct?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi
The ball must be inside the corner arc for the corner kick to be taken properly. However this on the face of it seems strange as referees rarely if ever blow for a corner kick to be taken unless there was some other situation such as an injury, substitution or a caution before the kick. Usually a whistle is used to stop the kick being taken due to some infringement before the ball is kicked such as pushing in the penalty area.
If the kick is stopped for placement of the ball it is poor mechanics as the AR should not allow the kick to be taken until the ball is properly positioned. Having said that it is possible for the ball to roll out of the arc after being placed properly and before the kick can be stopped by the AR or the player ignored the advice of the AR causing him to raise the flag before the kick was taken.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Yes this is correct. If the ball was not inside the corner arc then the kick was not properly taken. The AR should have tried to stop the kick from proceeding (perhaps he did).