Question Number: 23308

Law 9 - The Ball in and out of Play 5/14/2010

RE: AYSO REC Under 12

Mike of Chino Hills, CA USA asks...

An experienced referee gave me the following scenario. Two players get ready for a corner kick. Both players step outside the field at the corner. One player gives the ball a light kick to put it in play. His teammate then takes a step onto the field to play the ball. The referee told me that the teammate has now entered the field illegally because he was not the original kicker; therefore, he had not left the field to play the ball. He said that he once cautioned a player for entering illegally. If this is a proper interpretation of the laws, I would think it would result in two cautions, one for leaving and one for entering the field without permission. Either way, it seems draconian to me. Is it okay for the teammate to step outside the field with the player taking the corner? And if not, wouldn't a simple word from the referee suffice?

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

First, USSF has opined that while it is proper for one player to temporarily be off the field of play during a corner kick (the kicker), it is not for two attacking players (one feinting to be the kicker). The best remedy with two, however, is to hold up play and require that one return.

The referee has the power to caution one of the two players, but what is gained in doing so? IMO, 'gotcha refereeing' causes loss of match control as the players will believe the referee is unjust. Warn and caution on repetition adds to match control, as the players will believe that the one who ignored the warning and did it again is an idiot.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Referee Mike
It is clearly acceptable for a player to leave the field of play in order to take a restart or indeed in dynamic play say to avoid an opponent. In addition only one player can take the kick so by default there is no need for a 2nd player to be off the FOP. It can be the case that one player is left footed and the other is right footed and it is a feint to confuse the opponents perhaps on the flight of the ball. In the scenario you describe I see little sense in the referee getting involved certainly not with a caution. The opponents see it as a player less in the game and they have probably brought out defenders to deal with subsequent play. They certainly won't be bothered about it. I would see it as trifling or indeed if I wanted to be proactive I might ask the player to move on to the FOP. I watched a English league play off game and this very incident happened on the AR's side. No action was taken by either the ref or the AR and rightly so IMO.
The question I always ask referees is has the incident caused the game a problem or the proper playing of the game or effected match control. If the answer to that is no then there is no need to take action. I watched another game recently where at a corner two player played a short corner to use up time. The ball was played forward to a player who then played it back to the taker and stood in front of the quadrant with his back to the challenging defenders. IMO that was impeding and the referee had a perfect opportunity to stop play and award an IDFK rather than to allow the possible 'scrum' that can ensue in these cases. Nothing was awarded and that was the decision of the referee on the day. Had it ended up badly perhaps the referee may have regrettted that he did not take action when he could have.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Some referees make the game way too complicated.

Has the player really tried anything untoward here? Every player on the field knows he's still an active field player and is participating in the corner kick - so what does it say if the referee acts like he can't see the obvious?

Odds are, the player concerned hasn't even considered the problems with him leaving the field of play.

While a caution may technically permitted, I don't believe that doing so is in the best interests of the game. It's a harsh measure against a fairly innocuous action.

As Ref Wickham states, the referee should deal with this simply by instructing the players that there's no need for them both to be on the field, and the player receiving the kick must remain on the field of play.

In the interest of developing a positive relationship with the manager and assisting in a clear understanding of the laws, I would suggest having a chat to the team's manager at half time, or full time, to let him know of the issue.

Sometimes referees can get too hung up on what they can do and forget about what they should do.

The action isn't overly sinister, most likely wasn't committed with any unsporting intent, didn't have a significant and detrimental effect on the match, isn't a blatant breach of the laws (it's a breach, just not a massive one), and isn't a mandatory caution. Thus, I see no reason for a card to be given here. If the players persist after being warned, maybe then.