Question Number: 23191

Law 15 - Throw In 4/26/2010

RE: Travel Under 14

Larry Zensen of Sparta, NJ US asks...

My team had a goal taken away which would have won the game. The AR called for a throw-in for the other team but the Center Ref overruled and called my team. We then make a sub. We throw the ball in and go down the field and score. I didn't see the AR waive it off at all. All I saw was a parent challenge the AR and a player complaining to him. The AR came on the field and talked to the center ref. They then disallowed the goal. The AR said that the throw-in went the wrong way.

I looked up the FIFA rules and it is within the rights of the ref to reverse the call up until replay starts. What I don't understand is that if the center ref overruled the AR, allowed a sub, and we score then how can it be decided that it wasn't our ball? Isn't the replay when the throw-in happened?

Thank you

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Larry
Clearly there was a breakdown in communication between the Referee and the AR plus I suspect that the substitution in the middle of all this did not help either. It is a fundamental error that the throw in restart was given the wrong way and that may have happened because the AR was distracted by the substitution as was the referee. If the AR was 100% certain that it was a particular way he needs to advise the referee accordingly which he did at the earliest opportunity. He should flag this and the other AR should mirror that flag if it is unseen by the CR. Many times after a substitution the AR is concentrating on getting back to his position and may then only became aware of the TI direction.
What the referee and AR did was correct in Law but poor mechanics on how it was done.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

It's not clear what happened.

Did the assistant referee indicate by the flag for a throw -in in favor of the visiting team and the referee overrule the assistant's flag and awards a throw-in for the home team? If so, the the referee has made a decision. While the referee can change that decision again, once play restarts (by the subsequent throw-in), then the referee cannot change the decision.

If, on the other hand, the referee did NOT overrule the assistant referee, but instead made an erroneous signal, the signal misled the teams and it was proper for the referee to retake the throw-in. This sometimes happens after a substitution when the referee loses focus on who should retake the throw-in.

It was very poor mechanics and teamwork.