Question Number: 20832

Law 9 - The Ball in and out of Play 2/10/2009

RE: Adult

Brian Deniz of Houston, TX US asks...

Team A received a corner kick. Player 1 from team A tried to do the trick play of nudging the ball and then waving Player 2 over to grab the ball.......

The center referee was watching and knew the ball had moved and what was going on....but evidently the assistant referee didn't see the movement of the ball and before Player 2 got to the ball, the AR looked down, saw the ball was no longer in the arc...stepped on the field and rolled the ball back to the arc.

Is there a call necessary for an outside agent interference or does Law 9 still apply and play would be allowed to continue?

Thanks for all the great insight from this website.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Sometimes when the players are tricky, they manage to trick the referee as well. That's what happened here.

The AR is not an outside agent, but rather is a condition of play, similar to the corner flag, a tuft of grass, or a clump of dirt.

Technically the game could continue on, but hopefully the referee decided that the ball had not been put into play, and so the Player 2 was taking the corner kick.

Answer provided by Referee Steve Montanino

Well... I'm going to avoid technicalities and just say that once the AR interfered in the game, the ball was still out of play for practical reasons and the whole confusion problem.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

The referee crew are not considered to be outside agents. If the ball hits one of the referee crew that is on the field, play continues.


Here's what the LOTG say in the Interpretations section under Law 9 on page 97:


"The ball inside the field of play touches a person other than a player
If, when the ball is in play, it touches the referee or an assistant referee who is temporarily on the field of play, play continues because the referee and the assistant referees are part of the match."



The center referee could have allowed play to continue since the ball was legally put into play before the assistant referee moved the ball. Were I the center referee I probably would have told the second player to take the corner kick. If an outside agent such as a coach, dog, parent etc., had touched a live ball on the field of play, play would be stopped and restarted with a dropped ball where the outside agent touched the ball unless it was touched inside the goal area and then the drop would take place in accordance with Law 13.