Question Number: 18137

Law 15 - Throw In 12/15/2007

RE: Rec Adult

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

This question is a follow up to question 18078

Ben Mueller -You must be within 1 meter from the point where ball crossed the line.- Please tell me where I can find this stated in the Fifa rule book.
Michelle Maloney - As you helped write "The Advice to Referees" from the USSF, I understand why you like to follow it. Does Fifa have the same written rule as your "advice" book 15.1 section?
Chuck Fleischer - Your sarcastic tone is very annoying. Let's hope that you stick to browsing and leave the refereeing to others. I cannot bring myself to point out the errors in your poorly written reply.
Keith Contarino - AT LAST! An answer which addresses my dilemma. Yes Keith, a referee said it was a foul throw when I tried to take a quick throw in and was approx. 3 yards from the sideline, facing the field, both feet on the ground, ball thrown from behind my head. He said I was too far from the sideline. I asked him to show me the Fifa rule that states how close to the sideline you must be. Still waiting. I have no problem following this rule, if there is one. Just want some consistency.
Thanks in advance
Lorrie Lorimer

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Fine Lorrie you are "tired of referees getting mixed up with another throw in law". Just wonderful. In case you haven't had enough sarcasm I offer this. Thanks for asking for our opinion regarding your dilemma. Thanks for understanding what was said.

By the way, there is only one throw-in Law, it is Law 15 - The Throw-in and it states"

"A throw-in is a method of restarting play. A goal cannot be scored directly from a throw-in.

A throw-in is awarded:

when the whole of the ball passes over the touch line, either on the ground or in the air

from the point where it crossed the touch line

to the opponents of the player who last touched the ball"

Even the most unskilled reader can find the location of a throw-in when one applies herself. But of course the reader must take the time to read the Law. For those persons unable to find the exact spot the ball left the field asking someone usually solves the riddle, but that involves admitting you don't know something. Then there is the person that refuses to throw the ball from where it left the field, US Soccer addresses that person in its Advice to Referees on the Laws of the Game and Ref Maloney wrote about that. She said paragraph 15.1 says one yard in either direction from the point it left the field is close enough.

Those publications are available to read should you care to get definitive information, we merely tried to save you the time. We quoted them. So you're tired of referees not getting things the way you want? Ever think of how tired referees are of folks who never seem satisfied with what they are given? Ever think people could be giving the best possible information to you in exactly the same tone as you asked? No, this seems to ruffle your feathers way too much.

On my field when the first three throw-ins are taken I'll remind the players to throw from where it left the park. The fourth will be thrown from that point or it goes over to the other side because I consider a person reminded three times and not doing as requested is just too dense to understand. I believe there were four different answers in #18078 and the only one you seemed satisfied with was the one that asked you a question.

So, there you have it. The referee is going to make a decision regarding facts connected with play and that decision is incontestable no matter which player says show me where it says that in the book. That madam is a condition of play, a field condition just like 45 knots of wind, 2" of rain per hour, pea soup fog or an opponent that never lets you touch the ball. In your case it would seem this is an unpalatable fact of life.

We all have our little personality quirks, me I'm too sarcastic for some and I can live with that. Can you live with throwing the ball from where it went out to restart play or is that just too difficult a task?

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

Back in 1997/8, FIFA did a huge re-write of the Laws of the Game, trying to simplify matters. In truth, all they did was remove information that folks like you, and new referees depended on to try and explain the Laws if the person didn't have a historical background in the game, and that information had been in the Laws of the Game for many, many years. In the 1997 LOTG, the last FIFA Law book put out before the change which took most of the explanatory information out of the book, there is a section at the back of the book entitled Additional Instructions Regarding the Laws of the Game. In that section, #18. says: "A throw-in may not be taken from a distance of more than one metre outside the touch-line. Players are forbidden from standing directly in front of the footballer who is taking the throw-in so as to harass him." That is the authority which was used in the Advice, and what we get from FIFA controls everything else we do or anything that we put into the Advice. So, whether the referee or the player like it or not, the IFAB has decreed that a throw-in doesn't have to be taken from the exact spot where it left the field, but it does HAVE to be taken from a spot within 3 feet (approx. 1 meter) of where it left the field. As you can see, there is a big difference between 3 feet and 9 feet. Ignorance is bliss, but it can be corrected, and unfortunately, ignorance of the Law is no excuse.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Hey Lorrie. As Ref Maloney points out FIFA did a major rewrite 10 years ago and took out of print many things that were believed to be common knowledge. Americans not growing up with soccer and used to everything being in print find this difficult. Law 15 clearly states the throw has to come from the point the ball left the field. FIFA used to have in writing that we allowed a meter difference. Advice to Referees still points this out. So, your being 3 meters from where the ball went out was an infraction. The referee that day decided this was not trifling and awarded a throw to the other side. At the taking of a throw-in, the center referee often lines herself even with where she wants the ball to be thrown. You should come up to the touch line at that spot. Again, the TWO meter rule has to do with how far AWAY the opponents must be from the thrower at minimum.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Lorrie, I'm sorry you didn't like the answers my fellow panelists gave you. We offer a nearly money-back guarantee. Unfortunately we cannot reimburse you for the electrons wasted by your computer while you read our inadequate responses. But we will refund any and all monies you expended in signing up for our Q&A educational service.

I'm also sorry that you do not feel the need to pay attention to anything that is in Advice to Referees. That document is the official source of Law interpretations for the USSF. If you would read it, you would find that out. Very rarely is there an error in it, although one of our readers found one recently which will be corrected in the next edition. To read it, go to http://www.ussoccer.com/ and click the "Laws of the Game" link in the left column. You will then see a link to the document. The direct link is http://images.ussoccer.com/Documents/cms/ussf/Advice%20Final%20Aug2007.pdf but because US Soccer's website names are so long, that may not reproduce well in our format.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Lorrie,
there is much in laws that is not spelled out, for example find in the laws where it says you can not replace a sent off player? Nonetheless it is a recognized fact accepted by all.

There have ALWAYS been some discrepancies on the throw in fine points and the twists from a North American perspective to a European one were decidedly different until recently. A ball that did not reenter the field close to where it had left the field in European tradition was incorrect. If the ball traveled outside the touchline for say twenty yards then reentered it was awarded to the opposition. In North American version as long as the ball was actually physically thrown in close to the spot where it left the fact that it entered twenty yards down field was fine!

There are two very major changes in law 15 in my opinion. The two meter free area where no opponent can stand their ground anymore and the fact that an incorrectly taken throw in is awarded to the opposing team whether or not that ball ever enters back into play over the touchline.
Cheers