Question Number: 30945

Law 15 - The Throw In 10/24/2016

RE: Select Under 15

Steven of Madison, Connecticut United States asks...

Delaying Restart - Throw-in -
On a run of play throw-in a defender approached the player taking the throw-in appeared to divert away but hung his leg to interfere with the throw in - player taking the throw delayed a step and on his second attempt the defender was still close to the player taking the throw with his back to him and again hung his leg but this time the defender interfered with the ball path as released into play - I determined that the player was 2 yards away and deliberately interfered with the throw-in - I cautioned the player and awared a free kick as the ball was in play - was this the appropriate restart?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Steven
The Law as you know has been amended here. An opponent who unfairly distracts or impedes the thrower (including moving closer than 2yds to the place where the throw-in is to be taken is cautioned for unsporting behaviour and if the throw-in has been taken an indirect free kick is awarded.
In your case the throw in was taken so the restart is an IDFK after the caution. If the TI is not taken with the thrower complaining about the interference then the restart does not change after the caution.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Steven,
Sigh why do players think acting goofy somehow is the way to seriously affect their opponents? I blame the coaches for teaching poor tactics lol The throw in has this important fact that seems to not be recognized
The throw in is SUPPOSED to occur from WHERE it actually LEFT the FOP. About a yard leeway either side would be fair. WHY is this important? Because the opposition is mandated to be at minimum 2 meters away so as not to eat the ball in the face and not to interfere with the throw in. The defenders can not unfairly distract or impede by moving in closer to two yards or jumping up and down flapping the arms or legs yet if the thrower is permitted to run up along the touchline it diminishes the distance and changes the restart location often by a wide margin.
If the defender is moving with the thrower closing him down rather than being stationary 2 meters from the point you as referee are demanding /pointing for the restart location to occur he is baiting the thrower and as such could be guilty of a caution for USB and to stop the restart to show the card and begin again or to award an INDFK from where the interference occurs once the ball was in play.
I generally warn the defenders to back off and let the thrower get the ball in play while reiterating the restart location to the thrower and not be quite as liberal as I see others do with throw ins occurring a long way from the exit point. Truthfully I can not recall cautioning a defender for such an event in a great while but I have awarded throw ins to the other team on occasion when they fail to note my insistence of the correct restart location
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Steven,

As the laws currently stand you took the correct course of action and applied the correct restart.

Ref McHugh has already given the exact wording of the law in the sentence of his answer starting with the words, ''An opponent ...''