Question Number: 23454

Law 17 - Corner Kick 6/11/2010

RE: grade 7 Adult

steve of berlin, ct USA asks...

Law 11 clearly states' you CANNOT be offside on a corner kick'
Why was todays world cup goal disallowed?
This opens a can of worms

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

Actually Law 17 says a player cannot be offside if they receive the ball DIRECTLY (meaning it didn't touch any other player) from the corner kick.

It was disallowed for two reasons:

1) the player did not receive it directly from the corner kick - it was headed to Vela by a member of his own team; and
2) Vela was closer to the goal line than the 2nd to last defender and the ball, so he was in an offside position at the time his teammate (in the center of the goal area) headed the ball. There was a defender on the post, but the goalkeeper was way out past the Mexican forward and in this scenario, he was the 2nd to last defender!

So, we have position and involvement (no argument that he touched the ball here!), and no exemption, thus we have offside.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

The exception for a corner kick ends as soon as the ball is touched again by a teammate of the kicking team. This is what happened in MEX/SA.

It requires great focus by the assistant referee to observe the subsequent touch and stay with the second last defender (in this case, the keeper) as positions move within fractions of a second. In this case, fantastic work by the assistant referee who made the right call.

Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

The reason is because another offensive player touched the ball after the corner kick and passed it to a player that was in an offside position at the moment the ball touched a new player. It was no longer directly from the kick.