Question Number: 23697

Law 17 - Corner Kick 7/24/2010

RE: Competitive Under 17

P.W. Hughes of SANTA ROSA, CA United States asks...

On a corner kick, the player comes in contact with the flag. What is the restart? A re-kick? Award the ball the the other side? If so, where does the ball get placed?

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Play continues. There is no offense for contacting the corner flag.

Players may not remove the corner flags to get them out of the way of their kick. This is liable for a caution for unsporting behavior. Since the offense happened before the corner kick was taken, while the ball was out of play, the restart remains a corner kick.

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Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Referee Hughes
A player may not deliberately remove the corner flag to take a corner kick. The referee should not allow the kick to be taken and get the flag put back. If it happens before the referee can stop the restart then play should be stopped and the corner retaken.
If the player has kicked the corner flag by accident while taking a corner kick then IMO the referee can view what happens next and if the ball has gone out for a goal kick or to an opponent then play could be allowed to continue. I would not go with a retake in that situation.

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Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

No restart as coming into contact with the corner flag is not an offense. If a player removes the flag or attempts to bend it, the referee will give a verbal warning or possibly caution the player but will not allow the kick to proceed. If the player gets the kick off, the referee will have him take a re-kick. The only thing that can't happen is for the referee to award the other team the ball

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