An attacker kicks the ball which then hits the defender’s arm inside their penalty area and quickly goes out over the goal line (but not in the goal). Initially, the referee awards a penalty kick for handball, but after an 'on-field review', the referee cancels the penalty kick because the ball touched the defender’s arm when it was close to their body and did not make it unnaturally bigger. What is the correct decision?

Question

Accepted Answer

If the referee had blown a whistle before the ball went out, play is restarted with a dropped ball for the defending team goalkeeper. If the ball was already outside the field of play when the referee whistled, play restarts with a corner kick.