Question Number: 18078

Law 15 - Throw In 12/6/2007

RE: Rec Adult

Lorrie Lorimer of San Antonio, Texas USA asks...

Law 15 - Throw In.
Is there any law stating how close to the sideline you have to be to take a legal throw in?
I believe you could in theory be 10 yards away from the line, but if the ball enters the field at the same place it went out then this is a legal throw.
I am tired of referees getting mixed up with another throw in law and saying you have to be within 2 meters of the line.
Please point me in the right direction of a written law that might clear this up for me.
Thanks

Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

You must be within 1 meter from the point where ball crossed the line.

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

The Advice to Referees, which is an authoritative resource for referees put out by USSF, which we are required to honor, states in 15.1 Location of the Throw-in "Although the throw-in is to be taken "from the point where [the ball] crossed the touch line," this requirement is satisfied if the restart occurs within approximately one yard (one meter) of this location, farther upfield or downfield or back from the touch line. A throw-in taken beyond this limit is an infringement of Law 15." The statement in the ATR comes from the requirement listed in the "Laws of the Game; Law 15 - The Throw-in where it states the throw-in is awarded (taken) from the point where it crossed the touch line." This has been the practice for longer than you've been alive and I suspect it will continue to be this way for a long time to come. Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

So Lorrie, what other throw-in Law are the other referees mixing up? Here I sit at my keyboard thinking there was only the one.

Given there is only the one and you are tired of referees enforcing it what are we to do? Let's see... Oh, you could do as they ask and throw from where the ball went out. Of course that might interfere with your belief in a myth about the ball entering the field where it went out. Goodness me, we wouldn't want that, would we???

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

The 2 meter thing is how far AWAY at a minimum from the thrower an opponent must be. What is it specifically you think referees are messing up? Did one not let you take a throw from 10 yards off the field?

The following questions were asked as a follow up to the above question...

See Question: 18137