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Set-Pieces - Corner Kicks    By Julian Carosi.
(A series of articles on how to officiate in a proactive way by improving how you deal with specific incidents and how to become a better Referee).                       

Considerations for monitoring corner kicks. These ideas are not prescriptive; rather, they will hopefully give you some new things to think about, and encourage you towards adopting a consistent approach by dovetailing them into your own style of refereeing. 
 
Communicate: Oversee proceedings: Repositioning: Never: Expect anything: Review:   =  C.O.R.N.E.R

Communicate: When a corner kick decision is disputed, the closer you are to the goal line, the greater credibility you will have, and the easier it will be for you to sell your decision to those who disagree. This is particularly important, when tempers are frayed or the game is highly competitive. Unless there is any doubt in the decision, there is no need to make an auditable signal (i.e. using whistle or voice) when awarding a corner kick. But it is prudent to use an arm signal on most occasions, as this will covey your decision to those who may be watching the game from a distance. The arm should be raised at a high angle, pointing towards the corner flag position where the kick should be taken. Try and make the arm elevation, different to that used when indicating a throw-in, where the angle of the raised arm can be significantly less. The aim of any visual signalling is to covey the correct decision without putting doubt in the onlookers’ minds. In short, the arm signals used to indicate a throw-in, goal kick, corner kick, free kick etc, should be significantly different to each other. This way, players soon recognise which decision has been made; and this in turn adds to the enjoyment, flow and control of the game. The sternness, with which you deliver your signal, will need to be increased if dissent is expected. In other words, it’s no good using feeble communication when a decision is disputed; a much stronger confident stance is required in such cases! 

In all cases, when a referee awards a corner kick, the Assistant Referee will play a significant part towards the final decision. It is important therefore, that prior to signalling for a corner kick, the Referee should always look over to his active Assistant Referee for confirmation. This will minimise those embarrassing occasions when the Referee awards a corner kick, but the Assistant Referee has flagged for an offside or a goal kick instead! When an Assistant Referee signals for a corner kick, the chances are, that he will already be looking at you (the Referee), so take this opportunity to offer a subtle ‘thumbs up’ signal to thank him for his involvement.

Oversee proceedings: A corner kick restart is the ideal place for opponents to have a niggle at each other. The closeness of opponents, the potential outcome, and the constricted space, all add up to creating a situation where trouble can quickly breed if it is not curbed immediately. One of the first considerations for a Referee is therefore to be proactive in quelling conflict. To do this, you must keep a wary eye on protagonists and react instantly. If you identify a potential trouble spot before the corner kick has taken place, blow your whistle hard and use strong vocal and arm signals to delay the kick. Move in quickly to sort out perpetrators by asking them to behave themselves, and then move back out swiftly to your monitoring position (which could now be adjusted accordingly to provide a better viewpoint of the new trouble area). Imagine yourself on the end of a bungee rope; the idea being to deal with the situation quickly and return to your starting point in a matter of seconds! Try and deal with problems before the kick takes place, rather than having to stop play after the ball has been kicked. Reacting swiftly to curb trouble, imparts a clear message to players that you expect them to contest future corner kicks without the need for rebellious conduct!

Repositioning: Corner kick positioning seems to be the most argued about restart in terms of where the Referee is best placed to monitor proceedings. To begin with, let’s look at where NOT to stand! 
Consider the central space the width of the goal area, extending out to the breadth of the penalty arc. This area is where the ball is most likely to be delivered to (or travel across) when a corner kick is taken. There is a great danger for the Referee, if he stands in this area, because he is very likely to get in the way of players, and is in danger of having the ball deflect off him to the advantage of one team or another. For ease of reference, let’s call this the ‘no-go’ area. Another contentious position, is to stand either on the goal line, or behind the goal net itself. Whilst there is some benefit in being able to monitor if a goal has been scored or not from these positions (particularly when Club Assistant Referees are being used), their extreme locations leave the Referee floundering should the ball break away quickly to the other end of the field. 

The crux of astute corner kick positioning should be based on a compromise, resulting in an optimum starting point that allows a Referee to adjust his position to give him the best chance of reaching and monitoring any point on the field of play once the corner kick has been taken. In short, a Referee should take a conservative view of positioning, and not place himself on the extremes where he can soon become isolated away from the (second phase) play area.

There is no correct place to stand when a corner kick is taking place. There are so many possibilities that can happen when the ball is delivered, it would be impossible to have a single standard position. But there are some benefits to adhering to a consistent starting point as the corner kick is being prepared. The first consideration for a Referee is to have the drop-zone play area (the penalty area) between himself and his active Assistant Referee. Therefore, the modern Referee uses a starting point on the outside edge of the penalty arc furthest away from his active Assistant Referee. This starting position remains roughly the same whether the corner kick is taken on the right or the left corner flag. This allows the Referee to face his Assistant Referee and increases the chances of seeing any flag signals as play develops. It also allows the Referee the widest and clearest angle of view to monitor and deal with opponents who are niggling at each other. It is also the best position to allow the Referee to move into new locations without bumping into players or having to run through them! Finally, the position on the edge of the penalty arc is the optimum starting point to monitor the second phase of play as it develops (wherever it develops). 

The important part of Referee positioning at corner kicks is to be able to read the game and anticipate where the ball is likely to travel. As soon as the ball is delivered, the Referee should adjust his position to gain the best vantage point; but not by running through or into the ‘no-go’ area unless there is a desperate need to.

To summarise: There is no correct place to stand at corner kicks, but there is great benefit in adopting a consistent starting position on the edge of the penalty arc that allows you the best chance of adapting to all possible outcomes.

Never: There are several things that a Referee should never do whilst monitoring a corner kick: Turn his back on his active Assistant Referee; blow his whistle every time a corner kick is awarded; fail to take any notice of his Assistant Referee; give weak whistle or arm signals; stand where there is a danger of the ball (or players) colliding with him; ignore barging and shirt pulling between players as they jostle for position before the kick takes place; remain static whilst the ball is in the air; allow the ball to be placed outside of the corner arc; ignore encroachment towards the ball by opponents before the kick has taken place; ignore time wasting tactics; allow the comer flag to be removed or bent out of the way; allow dissent to fester when a decision is disputed etc.

Expect anything: Because there is a heightened potential of a goal immediately being scored, the monitoring of a corner kick is one of the tensest restarts that a Referee will have to deal with during a game. It is therefore important, that a Referee’s involvement and concentration is at its highest level during these periods. Whilst a Referee can relax a little during the taking of a throw-in or a goal kick, he should increase his state of alertness during corner kicks. There are three stages to consider. Firstly, the Referee must deal swiftly with any infringements occurring whilst the kick is being set up. Secondly, the Referee must be alert to antics as the ball is making its way into the penalty area; and finally, the Referee must be prepared to react competently with the outcome of the corner kick. And this can range from dealing with irate defenders after a disputed goal is awarded, to being able to sprint to the other end of the field of play to award another corner kick! Astute Referees will raise their levels of concentration and involvement during a corner kick, They will be on their toes in readiness to react to all possibilities, and they will place themselves in an advantageous positions that allow them the best possible chance of coping with all subsequent developments (and not just with the monitoring of the goal line!)

Review: As a game progresses, the Referee will subconsciously gather and review general information, such as which player is able to kick the ball furthest, which player is the most skilful, the tactics being used by each team, how proficient each goalkeeper is, whether a player is left or right footed, and the levels of sportsmanship of each team etc. All of this information, along with the pattern of previous corner kicks, will give the Referee useful information that he can use to his benefit. For example, if a player, who is able to kick the ball a long way, takes a corner kick, it is possible to anticipate with some degree of accuracy, where the ball is most likely to be delivered. This allows the Referee to adjust his position to give a better angle of view of the drop-zone (where the ball will land). If a left footed player takes a corner kick on the right hand corner flag, the trajectory of the ball will swing in a curve towards the goal. If a player with a week kick takes a corner kick, the ball is likely only to reach the near goal post; in this case, the Referee can adjust his position to give a greater angle of view of this area (rather than stay on the far side of the penalty where his view will be obscured by many players). To aid a Referees ability to make the most use of these types of information, he should try to consciously make a note as the game progresses, rather than rely on his unconscious mechanism. He can do this by simply saying to himself (for example), ‘The red No. 6 has a long kick’. This increases the chance of this information becoming useful should the Red No. 6 take corner kick, or any other restart kick. 

Ex-FIFA Referee Collina, took this concept to the extremes; prior to games, he walked the stadium just to get the smell of it! In short, if you can force yourself to consciously tune into the information that your radar will receive when you are officiating (rather than discounting it) the better Referee you will become.