Question Number: 25248

Law 17 - Corner Kick 7/23/2011

RE: rec Adult

alex of richmond hill, ontario canada asks...

Working as an AR in a corner kick. The attacker put the ball inside the corner arc and openly call his teammate who is approaching to take the corner kick with a defender close by. Then he suddenly tells me that he will kick start the corner kick to his approaching teammates which he did. I raised the flag when his teammate touches the ball and start dribbling towards goal, signalling to the CR that the corner kick never started. My argument being this attacker uses verbal distraction so it will be fair in the spirit of the law to do a retake of the corner. Am I making the correct interpretation of the law? Also thinking about it as a form of USB, should this be the CR responsibility instead of the AR?

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Hi Alex. This is the old fake corner kick. The danger is the referee or assistant referee may fail to see the first movement and raise his flag when the player he saw put the ball into play commits a second touch. I don't see this as unsporting behavior and don't think a retake is in order. The ball actually was properly put into play, in fact the player told you he was.

Referees have dealt with this in one of three ways if they don't approve:
1. Ignore the first touch which puts the ball into play and raise the flag for a second touch violation when the player takes off dribbling down the field

2. As soon as the ball is put into play yell loudly 'ball in play' 3. order a retake of the corner
Or since the ball was properly put into play in this instance, do nothing as there has been no infringement of any Law.
A retake in your scenario is not appropriate. Whether this is USB is up to the referee not you. I'm sure when your flag went up, the referee stopped play. I would be curious as to how he restarted play after talking to you.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Alex
Referees can be divided on this question. Some will see it as a legitimate play while others see it as not in the spirit of the game. What does happen is that if there is any doubt about the correctness of the corner kick that can cause all sorts of ill feeling and match control issues
My own opinion is that the game can do without these ruses where the player uses words to deceive a player at a restart. Sometimes coaches get involved in the deception where they do the verbal part and funnily enough referees that allow the ruse have a problem with those. Also if it does not work does the attacking team complain that the corner kick was not taken. This happened with a free kick in a game between Liverpool and Sunderland where the defender claimed that he did not put the ball into play but was simply leaving it with his foot for the goalkeeper to take the free kick. Cue uproar after Liverpool ran off with the ball and scored. IMO if the referee stopped play immediately and said "Okay we will have that again"" it would have been a nothing decision.
In these corner kicks the referee or the AR can deem that the verbal distraction happened before the ball was put into play so the corner kick could be taken again. Timing is everything here and if the defender looks away because of the verbal distraction at the moment the ball is kicked is that fair? Every one of these that I have seen at the highest level resulted in a retake which probably is the least contentious decision. The team gets to take the corner again and the defending team is probably relieved that play has not been allowed to restart in a vulnerable position.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

No, your response was incorrect.

First, players are permitted to use guile at a trick corner kick, and this includes the verbal deception you describe. Opponents need to pay attention. It is common, however, that the original player fails to properly put the ball in play (the ball must be kicked and move).

Your response would be appropriate if the coach had said 'Joe, you take the kick' (except that coaches are not cautioned or shown cards). When done by the players only, this is lawful deception.

Second, the risk of a trick corner kick is that it may also trick the referee. If the referee fails to see the ball properly put into play, the correct restart is an indirect free kick when the second player (in the referee's opinion - the kicker) makes a second touch infringement. The correct restart is an IFK for the defense where the second touch occurred. A famous example occurred when Manchester United tried this trick, but the assistant referee didn't see the ball put into play on the first kick.

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

The referee is always the one with the responsibility for issuing cards - the AR may make a recommendation only.

In this situation, the player kicked the ball and it moved, in this case to a teammate. This is not deceptive, even if he said something before, during or after the kick. The defender is still required to be 10 yards away until the kick is taken, and if the defender 'falls' for the trick, that is not your concern unless there was more to the situation than described.

That you fell for the trick is a risk the player took, but in this case, it should have been a very low risk. Let them get the ball back into play as quickly as possible at corner kicks, barring some action which screams unsporting behavior or illegal start (neither here) and needs to be called for the good of the game.

The following questions were asked as a follow up to the above question...

See Question: 25261