Question Number: 21587

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 6/24/2009

RE: High School

nolan of Ontario, Canada asks...

A question on the old corner kick trick play. First player sets the ball in the arc, second player comes over to 'discuss' the kick. Second player moves the ball with his foot on his way back to the goal area as the 'trick' first touch.

Meanwhile, the first player backs out of the field of play 4 or five yards. Then runs up as if to take the corner, but starts dribbling along the goal line towards the net.

I was surprised to see it at the high school level, that kind of foolishness usually ends at U10. The referee in this case (not myself) either didn't see or chose not to see the tricky part and called IFK for the second touch.

I know there was debate in a previous question about this play. The use of verbal trickery seemed to be the deciding factor for potential USB. However, I would like to know if a caution for leaving the field without permission is justifiable. It wasn't an accident that the pretend kicker went five yards off the pitch, and he was trying to gain a tactical advantage by doing so. It was intended to fool the defenders into thinking he was the kicker so no one would mark him.

Thanks

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Hmm, another wrinkle to this sticky problem. If teams and coaches took all the effort the put into trick plays and put it to use in basic tactics and techniques, the teams might actually improve. But that's another story ...

You could justly argue that the player went off the field for no good reason, except to try to deceive his opponents. We don't let a winger line up two steps off the field at a kickoff when he's trying to hide from the opponents; neither should the fake corner kick taker move off the field to try to hide his tricky play.

It's probably not worthy of making as big of a fuss as a caution for this. Your ref, consciously or not, fixed this problem by calling a double touch. If the players want to argue about it - 'But he touched it first and put it in play!' - then the ref has two courses he could follow. He could simply say, 'Your trick play was too good - it fooled me too.' Or he could start thinking along your lines - if the ball was already in play, why was the player going way off the field before kicking it? Either way the other team is getting an IFK outbound. Depending on the original corner kickers' propensity for arguments, a caution might also be included.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

The last 3 times a trick corner play was used at the professional level (the latest was by Manchester United) the referee didn't see (or accept) the first touch as a kick and called the double touch.

While leaving the field of play to deceive the opponent is unsporting behavior in connection with offside, the tradition allows one player to leave the field during a corner kick. I'm not sure a caution is the best way to handle this.

Trickery is allowed at a corner kick (although most draw the line when a U10 coach verbally affects play). The observant referee has 3 choices: allow the trick (it won't work again that match); don't see or don't accept the first touch as a kick of the ball and call the double touch given the other team an indirect free kick; or announce loudly that the player has your permission to leave the field and to wait until you give permission to reenter.