Question Number: 26292

Law 5 - The Referee 5/5/2012

RE: rec High School

Dan of London, Ontario Canada asks...

when a player in control of the ball or has it within playing distance and that player shields the ball from the goal line or touch line while being covered closely by an opponent from behind and although the player who last touch the ball is that player shielding what is the rational for the referee or AR for awarding a goal kick or throw in to the team who actually touched the ball last

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Dan
The only rationale is that the referee did not see the touch by the shielding player which should result in a throw in or a corner kick to his opponents.
Sometimes referees when they see a player shielding the ball over the goal line and they do not see a touch by the shielding player assume that the player did not touch the ball otherwise the player would not let it go out of play. That can be a ploy by some players and only good positioning and alertness by the referee will see the touch. It can also be a mistake as the player was not aware of a touch while under pressure
I have awarded corner kicks in these situation when I clearly saw a touch off the shielding player. The decisions caused much annoyance to the players & their teams. Perhaps the player did not feel the touch of the ball or did so but tried to proceed as if there was no touch.

The following questions were asked as a follow up to the above question...

See Question: 26308