Question Number: 35906

Law 17 - The Corner Kick 4/16/2025

RE: Rec Adult

Andrew Bower of Worksop, Nottinghamshire United Kingdom asks...

For a corner tha law states the ball should be in the corner area. If in modern play the ball is only touching or bisecting the line isn't that out of the area in the same way as a ball not wholly in the goal( not OVER the line) is not a goal because it is not in the area designated as the goal.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Andrew
Law 17 tells us that the ball must be placed in the corner area nearest to the point where the ball passed over the goal line.
Accepted practice across all the Laws is that as long as the ball is breaking the plane of a line the ball is deemed to be in that area marked by the line. So for example the ball is not out of play if part if the ball is still breaking the plane of a touch line or goal line. The same thinking applies to the corner kick.

No doubt that you would also have noted the fact that a penalty kick that some players positioned the ball to one side of the mark with the ball overhanging same. When that was done one could argue that the ball was not touching the mark just overhanging a side of it.
This season saw a change in that Law 14 now states that and I quote ** The ball must be stationary, with part of the ball touching or overhanging the centre of the penalty mark,….
So the law makers accept that part of the ball overhanging a line or mark is acceptable positioning of the ball.

Also in the scheme of things it is not seen as a big deal if only part of the ball is touching or breaking the plane of the line.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Andrew,
on a corner kick the ball is supposed to be located within the corner arc. Yet it can overhang partially outside as there’s only a small percentage of the ball that touches the ground. The most important thing is that it’s stationary. If the grounded part of the ball is on the outside of the Arc lines it is considered sufficient that part of the circumference overhangs. Not sweating the small stuff, we consider the boundary lines to be part of the area they encompass. Cheers