Question Number: 19687

Law 15 - Throw In 8/4/2008

RE: rec, select, competive Under 19

Scott of Fort Drum, NY USA asks...

My question has to do with something that I found in the USSF publication "Advice to Referees on the Laws of the Game" it states that:

'15.4 ILLEGAL OR IMPROPERLY TAKEN THROW-IN
If the ball touches the ground outside the field before entering the field or if it does not enter the field at all, the throw-in has not properly been taken and must be performed again.'

At younger ages you still see the flip throw-in where a player puts the ball on the ground and uses it as a base to do a flip and then releases the ball. I have always been of the opinion that as long as the feet are on the ground, they are behind the touchline, and the ball comes directly from behind the head it is a legal throw.

But with that statement now I am not so sure. Can you please put me on the right path?

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

There is nothing inherently illegal about a flip throw, stupid and dangerous perhaps but not necessarily illegal. As long as all the requirements of Law 15 are met, players are free to possibly injure themselves or look like idiots and perform a flip throw. The passage in ATR that you cite has to do with the ball after it has been released.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

The statement in 15.4 refers to a ball that has left the hands after a throw has been taken. Using your logic a player dropping the ball or bouncing it before hand would constitute an improperly taken throw-in. The sentence quoted only explains what happens if the thrown ball does not enter the field or does not enter the field before bouncing.

Regards,