Question Number: 27857

Law 15 - Throw In 10/6/2013

RE: competitive College

Roy of Homewood, IL usa asks...

On a throw in, what part of the foot can be on the line? Can one foot be inside the field?

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Hi Roy. Thanks for the question. Here's what Law 15 says regarding placement of the feet at a throw-in:

has part of each foot either on the touch line or on the ground outside the
touch line

This means one foot cannot be wholy beyond the line on the field of play. It also means that it's perfectly legal for a player taking the throw to only have the backs of her heels touching the inside part of the touch line as that satisfies the requirement that part of each foot (heels) is on the touchline.

Of course, any part of the foot touching any part of the touch line satisfies this requirement, and it's also legal for neither foot to be in contact with any part of the touch line as long as the feet are outside the field of play.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Roy
Many mistakenly believe that part of the foot cannot be over the touch line. As long as part of both feet is touching the line which can be the heels that is legal.