A number of readers have tackled me on the subject of the Rooney/Giggs corner in their game against Chelsea, which resulted in a Ronaldo goal being disallowed. Surely it was legal, seems to be the general consensus, to which my answer was yes and no.
Let’s look at what happened. A corner was awarded to Manchester United and Rooney strolled over to the corner, put the ball inside the arc and then whilst facing the flag, rolled it out again backwards with the sole of his boot. He then walked calmly away. Ryan Giggs likewise sauntered up to the ball but, instead of taking it back into the arc to take the corner, turned on it and crossed it for Ronaldo to put it in the goal.
There were some people, even at a high level, who queried whether Rooney’s roll out of the ball with the sole of his boot constituted a kick in the eyes of the law. The FIFA Interpretations and guidance to referees says at a free kick the kick can be taken by lifting the ball with the foot, which suggests the ball doesn’t have to be struck by the foot. So we’ll give Rooney his roll.
Another comment I read claimed that the kick was legal, because the ball had come out of the corner arc. That is not actually necessary. The law says the ball is in play, when it is kicked and moves. This means if a player takes the kick from the back of the arc, it is in play before it leaves the arc.
So Rooney kicked the ball and Giggs crossed it for Ronaldo to put it in the goal. What’s the problem?
If we look at the whole of this episode it is clear that this little conspiracy, which according to Rooney had been hatched on the training ground, was done to fool the opponents. Seeing Rooney roll the ball with his feet and then walk calmly away, followed by Giggs equally calmly stroll towards it, the opponents would have thought he was going to replace it in the arc and take the corner. Of course until the kick is taken, the opponents must remain eleven yards from the corner flag. Had they thought that Rooney had taken the kick, they would have charged in to challenge for the ball, but of course they didn’t, so they didn’t.
Despite this piece of obvious gamesmanship, wasn’t it just Chelsea’s bad luck for not spotting the
deception?
Rooney and Giggs may have thought they were being innovative but this ruse has been tried often enough before. I had it about three years ago and last season a referee in the Reading Football League was asked by a club before the game if he would allow them to enact such a deception, if the opportunity arose. I think I’m right in saying that his answer was ‘only if everyone was aware the corner was being taken’. This I think is the crux of the matter.
The Laws of the Game state that the referee ‘indicates the restart of the match after it has been stopped’. In other words he has to be aware that the kick is going to be taken and give some indication that he is happy for the kick to take place. It doesn’t have to be a whistle, in fact the Guidelines say, ‘the whistle is not needed to restart play from a corner’. At the Manchester United corner, referee Howard Webb had not given such an indication and in fact was talking to a player at the time when Rooney and Giggs played out their little act.
Although the execution may have been legal, if the referee is not aware the kick is being taken how can he be sure it was taken correctly? That’s why my answer was yes and no.
Dick Sawdon Smith
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© R Sawdon Smith 2009