Question Number: 18324

Law 15 - Throw In 2/2/2008

RE: recreational Adult

Gary of adelaide, SA australia asks...

we have all seen that video clip of the player taking a throw-in to the goalkeeper the goalie misses it and it rolls into the goal. it seems to me as if the goal was given. but unless the goalie touched it wouldnt it be a corner kick.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Gary,
What video?
You are correct if a throw in goes DIRECTLY into the goal under the crossbar and between the posts it does not count!
It is a corner kick if that throw in was from a team mate and it is a goal kick if that throw in was from an opponent.
Whether a video actually shows a touch or not if in the opinion of the referee the ball was touched even ever so slightly then a goal is awarded and kick off ensues!
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Seeing a video clip of something happening on a Football match isn't really proof positive something happened. Reason, there is a referee out there someplace who is almost exclusively a neutral observer. He has an opinion about everything he sees. Once he takes an opinion he is supposed to recall pertinent information from the Laws of the Game and make an intelligent decision based on what he saw and what the Law tells him to do is something such as what he saw happens. That said the referee knows it is impossible to score a goal at either end if the ball enters the goal directly from a throw-in because Law 15 says that in its second sentence. He also knows if the keeper gets even the slightest touch on the ball and it rolls into goals a goal has just been scored because the ball has entered the goal after being touched by a player. That's a fact.

Now there are times when the referee will hear or see the slightest touch and the camera won't record it. That is also a fact. AND there are times when the referee is clearly incorrect in what he saw and erred in his decision making process. If that happens and the two assistants and fourth official can not get him to change his decision it becomes a fact connected with play and is final. It is not protestable if the referee says he saw it touch so-and-so. Why? Law 5 tells us that...

Regards,