Question Number: 19791

Law 9 - The Ball in and out of Play 8/20/2008

RE: Ohio High School High School

Kevin of Columbia , Ohio USA asks...

I would like an opinion of something that happened in a game tonight. It was a non conference high school girls game and we we happy to see three refs on the field. The opposing team was moving the ball towards our goal and a player attempted to pass a long ball to another player on her team. A defender deflected the ball high into the air and the ball was going out of bounds. While the ball was still in the air a child ball girl threw a ball to a girl to throw in, once she got the ball the original ball that was deflected hit the top of a fence that surrounds the track around the field and bounced directly back onto the field of play and rolled to the top of the penalty box, our goalie walked towards the ball to throw it to the side line thinking that the ball would be used for the throw in. No whistle was ever blown during this time period. Well ultimately the other team scored because our goalie was atop the box. now my question is two fold, first the ball that bounced back actually had never touched the ground before coming back onto the field? Therefore if there are two balls on the field should the ref have stopped the game and removed one or the other. Secondly. the side judge saw everything and i believe the center ref did not realize the ball that had been on the middle of the field was actually the ball that was deflected. should the refs have conversed on this. His explanation was the ball had no relevence since their was a throw in. If this is true should not a whistle been blown to signify the ball was out of bounds and throw in was granted. I know this is a weird question and I hope I have explained it well enough for you to understand.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

The ball is out of play when it completely crosses the line, whether in the air or on the ground. So from your description there is no doubt that the ball was out.

There is no need for a whistle to stop play when everyone is aware that play has stopped. The ball was obviously out, as it hit the fence that was outside the field.

An extra ball on the field is treated similarly to what happens if there is an outside agent on the field. (For example, a dog or squirrel runs onto the field.) If there is no effect, play can continue. However since the goalkeeper went to retrieve the extra ball, there was an effect. Based on your description, the throw-in should have been held up until the extra ball was cleared from the field, or retaken if there wasn't time to hold it.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Usually the referee will not stop things if another ball doesn't interfere. In this case the other ball had a significant impact on the match and play should have been stopped until there was only one match ball there for all to play. The restart of play would remain throw-in unless the throw-in had already restarted play. If that was the case the restart must be dropped ball.

Regards,