Question Number: 22436

Law 17 - Corner Kick 11/4/2009

RE: Other

Brian Francis Higginson of Preston, Lancashire UK asks...

When does the ball become live at a corner. Does it have to rotate, leave the quarter circle, or is touching it enough.

Has the law on corners ever been changed. When I was a lad part of the shadow of the ball had to be over the quarter, or is time altering my thinking

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

I'm sure there have been some changes in corner kicks since the Laws were originally compiled well over a century ago.

Like any other free kick, a corner kick is in play when the ball has been kicked and moves. The movement need not be a lot, but it must discernably move from one location to another, from here to there. Simply tapping the top of the ball to make it wobble is not sufficient.

The 1996/97 version of the Laws was a total rewrite. Part of that included the change to "kicked and moves". Prior to that, the ball had to roll an complete revolution to be in play.

The Laws state that the lines enclosing an area are part of that area. Thus the touchline, the endline and the curved arc are all part of the corner arc. If any portion of the ball is eclipsing even a sliver of one of those lines, the ball is in the area. That applies to the whole field, the penalty area, as well as to the corner arc. Your shadow analogy is a good one, assuming the sun is directly overhead. USSF has a diagram in Advice to Referees that confirms this. Please note, however, that some national interpretations are that the ball must be touching the ground in part of the arc. Pictures in the Laws of the Game confirm neither the "touch the ground" nor the "shadow" interpretation.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Brian Francis
The ball is in play when it is kicked and moved. On a corner kick it does not have to leave the corner arc for it to be in play but it must be kicked and moved.
As regards placement the ball can be placed anywhere in the arc as long as the ball is touching any part of the arc.

Answer provided by Referee Gene Nagy

Brian, in 1996 Law 17 was changed. The whole law was reworded. The two main changes. First, was that the ball is in play when it moves, which was a change from the ball having to travel its circumference. Second, that the ball is placed inside the corner arc, which was a change from the whole of the ball has to be inside the arc. From 1997 the ball was allowed to be placed if any part of the ball touches touches the arc. This makes sense considering the ball is not considered to have left the field until the WHOLE of the ball goes over the goal line or touch line. Similarly, the ball is still in the corner arc if any part is touching the line.