Question Number: 29912

Law 17 - Corner Kick 11/11/2015

RE: Rec Adult

Rico Luna of La Habra, CA Orange asks...

This question is a follow up to question 29910

Good evening,
So this is how the double touch happened.
The corner trick play unfolded as follows:

The ball goes out on the left side of the goal so the corner is taken on my side of the field. I position myself near the penalty arch but take a few steps towards the corner to ensure that the ball is placed correctly as this is the first corner kick of the game. I normally take a few steps to confirm, then lightly jog back to position as the kickers normally take a few seconds to prep for the kick.

As I stake a few steps to confirm ball placement, player 'A' places it on the corner arch line and proceeds to kick it forward about 4 inches and calmly walks away, player 'B' walks towards ball and turns around facing the goal and after 2 seconds he dribbles the ball towards goal only to have his shot go wide.
At no time did the coach or player say or shout anything.

The double touch happened a 3 corner kicks later, same player 'A' places the ball inside the arch, kicks the ball 4 inches forward just landing outside the arch line, stops and kicks it forward again, maybe he didn't like the distance so he kicked it again another 2 inches the second time. At this point he walks away. During the second kick player 'B' was making his way towards the ball and that's when I whistled the double touch and award an IFK.
In my opinion player 'A' knew what he was doing and it didn't seem like an accidental kick.
I know that the ball doesn't have to leave the arch to be in play, just needs to be kicked forward by player 'A' and I saw the intent of the player of kicking it, going back for another kick and then walking away.
I made a judgement call and blew the whistle, as player 'A' was walking past me I told him 'nice try' and he laughed and said 'yeah, shouldn't have kicked it again'. Both of these happened in the first half, the 3rd happened near the end of the game. The other team was inexperienced so they weren't sure of what was happening.
Hope this helps :D

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Rico
Many thanks for the clarification and for sharing how it it happened. That indeed is a double touch infringement and as you say the player knew what he was doing particularly when the ruse was used previously.
Now had he not kicked it for a second time and Player B came to dribble the ball away B could not be guilty of a double touch once the single kick of the ball by Player A moved the ball outside the arc.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Rico
great feedback, it is good to clearly understand these situations and hopefully those reading these responses and exchanges can use this experience to better understand their own tricky plays later on!
Good job!

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

See Question: 30399