Question Number: 24565

Law 1- The Field 2/7/2011

RE: AYSO Under 13

Rajan of van nuys, California usa asks...

Team A player is about to take a throw in. She looks down at what she thinks is the touch line, she runs up to it and completes her throw in. I blew the whistle and award the throw in to Team B. The player from Team A realizes her mistake. About 10 feet from the actual touchline on the field of play is a second line that runs the length of the soccer field and looks exactly like the actual touchline that we were using. The Team A player mistakingly spotted the wrong touchline for her throw in and I blew the whistle for the mistake.
Please note that this game is being played at a school so my guess is that this second line(false touchline) is probably there to accomodate a smaller game or some other game that is played at the school.
Needless to say that the coach was unhappy with my decision. Was my call correct or should I have allowed the player from Team A to re-take the throw in and if so what is my explanation to Team B.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Rajan
The problem here is the presence of false lines on the field of play which is unsatisfactory for the proper playing of the game. The Laws states that only the lines indicated in Law 1 are to be marked on the field of play. So technically the false touchline should have been erased using green markings/dye and the game should not have commenced until that was done.
If that cannot be done then a compromise has to be used which perhaps is to use the inner line as the touchline.
As the game went ahead then the correct decision is to award the throw in to the opponents. That perhaps gets every players' attention for the rest of the game on the presence of the false touchline. The ref could also stop play, point out to the players the touchline error and restart with a retake.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

I recall a Columbus Crew game from long ago, before they had their own stadium, where a player took a throw-in from the gridiron sideline rather than the touchline. They let it go.

If there are confusing lines on the field - and you said they looked exactly alike - I would either let it go or call it back to have it taken from the correct spot. I'd probably lean toward the latter. She doesn't get any advantage from the mistaken position, and her mistake causes the team's momentum to be shot down. That's punishment enough for such a minor infraction.

Of course, your decision was strictly correct by the Laws.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

While your decision was correct under the letter of the law, another option would be to alert the player BEFORE she took the throw where the touchline was located. (Much in the same way that in a U13 match, you might instruct a player to go back to the proper location of a throw-in when the thrower advances more than a yard from where the ball left the field.)

Our multi-use fields can be confusing since there are so many lines on the field. The letter of the law prohibits additional markings (although IFAB may change that later this year) so the notion that a player could be confused by a 'second touchline' is outside the norm for a professional match. The spirit of the game allows for the referee to adjust to the actual conditions of youth play.