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Can a corner kick be taken quickly the same way a free-kick can ? That is, so long as the kicker does not require that the 10yds be enforced.

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  • It may not be the case, but you might be asking this question, as you would have seen many corner kicks being taken ceremonially (i.e. on the whistle) in the 2018 World Cup. This is because referees were holding up kicks until all holding and pushing stopped in the penalty area. At lower levels of the game, less holding and pushing occurs before the kick is taken, so the vast majority of corner kicks are taken quickly. Sep 5, 2018 at 7:02

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Yes, it is allowed to take the corner kick quickly. The Laws of the Game don't prohibit this:

  • The ball must be placed in the corner area nearest to the point where the ball passed over the goal line
  • The ball must be stationary and is kicked by a player of the attacking team
  • The ball is in play when it is kicked and clearly moves; it does not need to leave the corner area
  • The corner flagpost must not be moved
  • Opponents must remain at least 9.15 m (10 yds) from the corner arc until the ball is in play

It's just very rare to have your players positioned accordingly to actually gain an advantage. Also the referee can enforce the 10 yard rule without anyone complaining (primarily because complaining isn't really a part of the game). So if a player of the other team is too close the kick can still be called off, if the referee doesn't see the advantage in time.

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  • This is a very good answer. It might be worth adding that the referee will also make the restart on the whistle if they need to deal with holding / pushing in the penalty area before the kick (as was seen in the 2018 World Cup). See p. 202 of the current laws (p. 23 in the pdf) for more info. Sep 5, 2018 at 7:05
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As a sidenote, neither a free-kick nor a corner kick require a whistle by the referee in general. A whistle is mandatory if a yellow/red card was awarded (my team got a goal once disallowed because they executed the free kick without a whistle). However, if the referee enforces the 9.15m rule, the kicker has to wait for the whistle.

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