Question Number: 28474

Law 15 - Throw In 6/5/2014

RE: Yourth Travel Under 15

Brian Miner of CHELMSFORD, MA USA asks...

Legal Throw-In? Proper Restart?

Playing field was lined for multi-sport with multiple colors (WHITE, BLUE, GRAY, YELLOW). We were playing WHITE. BLUE Lines were about 1-2 feet inside WHITE and part of the pitch for this match.

Ball went out of play requiring whistle/stoppage. Ball bounced back on to pitch. Player from Team A picked up the ball and positioned his feet for a throw in with feet at the BLUES (on the pitch) instead of the WHITES. Player never left the pitch. Ball was on the Pitch. Player picked up the ball and made what appeared to be a legal throw...except it was from the BLUE, not outside the WHITE.

Is the restart 1) a re-take of the throw in for Team A (with he thought being they never were off the field to start the process) or 2) an IDFK for Team B on the pitch between the BLUE and WHITE Lines?

I thought the trigger was the ball had to break the plane of the touch line but because the ball was played from inside the touch line, I couldn't use that as the guideline.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Brian
Unfortunately the Laws of the Game never considered fields of play with multiple lines in multiple colours.
One has to then go with what the Law states. As Team A Player took a throw in incorrectly on the field of play the ball is turned over to Team B who take the throw in from the correct location behind the white line.
Perhaps depending on the mood and standard of the game and if it was the first time the genuine error happened the referee might stop play and remind players that the Blue lines are not the touchline. He might restart with a retake from the correct location and all other 'mistakes' from there on are punished with a turn over.
My preference is to enforce the Law fully from the outset and go with a turnover of the throw in. It does have more impact going forward as throwers then are more careful.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

The wise referee will hold up the throw, and tell the player to take it from the correct location. The players understand the problems with so many lines, and my experience is that they will view this as good refereeing rather than coaching.

The referee has the power, however, to call this a foul throw and award a throw-in to the opponents. My view is that at some point, the players must remember the correct touchline. But, in my games, that will be after several warnings. (Note: we have one field where there are four parallel white lines. I usually joke that if they can see the line, it isn't the right one.)

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Long ago I saw a MLS game, perhaps in Columbus before they got their own stadium. The ball went out for a throw-in, and the player took it from the gridiron sideline, not the soccer touchline. Oops. Everyone just kept playing.

While technically the throw-in was taken incorrectly, the wise ref will either see this as trifling and inconsequential, or will stop play and allow the player to take it from the correct spot. While a do-over is not part of the Laws, the referee can do it in this case if he had made his mind up that he was going to hold up the throw but didn't have time to whistle before the player proceeded.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Brian,

I've refereed on similar fields myself, so I can reply from experience.

The 2 choices are to apply the laws as written (and not take the extra field markings into consideration), or to break them for the sake of 'fair play', and allow a retake if a throw is taken from the wrong line.

I saw one problem with the latter - consistency. If I'm going to retake a throw-in for a throw that taken from the wrong line, 2 yards in front of the normal line, then how can I penalise a player who takes it from the correct line but puts a foot over the line? If he argues he was taking it from the front line, how can I respond?

Because of potential problems like that, I decided the fairest approach was simply to apply the laws (we tend to create a rod for our own backs when we operate outside of the laws), and not be sympathetic to throws taken from the wrong line. If I could stop the player before/as he takes the throw then I would, but if he's too quick - then it's unfortunate. No warnings from me, I think that just increases inconsistency and problems (you can imagine the argument that could come up there).

In response to your 'A' or 'B' question, this really is no different at all to any other situation where a player steps over the line when taking a throw in - I've seen players on normal fields be completely on the field to take a throw just through inattention.

It's always good practice to raise this issue with the captains before the match as well, and make sure they know what your approach is going to be.