Question Number: 31639

Law 17 - The Corner Kick 7/10/2017

RE: selects Under 19

Fred of Vancouver, BC Canada asks...

This question is a follow up to question 30789

What is the restart? The Law does not say.
Corner: The ball does not clearly move and is not in play. When the second player begins dribbling in, does his first touch put the ball in play? If so, his second touch is an offense and an IFK should be awarded.
IFK: Same scenario except the second player kicks into the goal. If the ball hadn't clearly moved then the second player has kicked the ball directly into the goal and a goal kick should be awarded.
Or is the restart simply a retake.
Should trickery or deception have any influence over the restart?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Fred
On a corner kick if the first kick does not put the ball into play then the second player may only touch the ball once otherwise it will be a double touch infringement punished by an IDFK should he kick the ball twice. The IDFK is taken from the location of the double touch. However it can only be a double touch if the first touch by the 2nd player happens inside the corner arc which is the most likely situation anyway.
On the IDFK your thinking is correct. The restart is a goal kick as a goal cannot be scored directly from an IDFK. The issue will be around whether the first touch actually moved the ball or not. The referee is the judge of that
Not sure what you mean by trickery or deception. We need to be sure that the ball was not kicked and moved because should the ball be moved then there will not be an offence. Now the recent update to the Laws has stated that the ball must now CLEARLY move. In the past it simply stated moved which is a much less onerous requirement aas an inch or so of movement would satisfy *moved*. Some even said that a ball wobble was a move. I believe that amendment is trying to assist referees in that a touch of a ball which may have met the moved requirement is now not sufficient to put the ball into play. The referees now has to sees the ball clearly move then for it to be in play.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

If the first touch on any restart is not enough for the ref to see that the ball was 'kicked and moved', then it's as if that touch never happened. The next touch that is a kick is what puts the ball into play. If the same player touches it again immediately after that, it's in indirect free kick infraction.

If the first touch on an indirect free kick goes into the goal, it's a goal kick (or a corner kick if it's kicked into one's own goal, however rare that might be).

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Fred,
In both the examples you give, I think you'll find the law does specify the restart. As ref Voshol says, if the ball does not clearly move, the touch by the first player does not count. So for the corner kick scenario, the following applies:

''If, after the ball is in play, the kicker touches the ball again before it has touched another player an indirect free kick is awarded'

For the indirect free kick situation:

''if an indirect free kick is kicked directly into the opponents' goal, a goal kick is awarded''