Question Number: 31995

Law 8 - The Start and Restart of Play 11/5/2017

RE: Adult

Muhammad Rizwan of Abbottabad, Abbottabad Pakistan asks...

R/Sir, During a match here while delaying the throw-in the referee not caution the player straight given a IDFK to the opponent team. I think it should had be treated like first he should caution the player for delay tactics and then if he repeat it again then he should award an indirect free kick to opposing team. what you say?

During match here when a teammate collect the ball from his goalkeeper during goal kick in the penalty area referee just verbal warned him and goal-kick was retaken but after sometime he repeated it again and this time referee cautioned him and IDFK was awarded to opponent team in the penalty area.. Was it a right decision?

While throw-in to his goalkeeper can a goalkeeper gets the ball in hand after he straight gets it on the chest of head?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Muhammad
If a player delays the taking of a throw in that player is cautioned for delaying the restart. The restart is still a throw in to the same team so there is no possibility of an IDFK
On your second question if the defender deliberately and wilfully delayed the restart by playing the ball inside the penalty area on a repeat after a warning for which he is cautioned the restart is still a retake of the goal kick as the ball was not in play.
On a throw in from a team mate a goalkeeper cannot touch the ball with his hand under any circumstances even after chesting it or using his foot inside or outside the penalty area. the restart is an IDFK from where the goalkeeper used his hand inside the penalty area

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Muhammad,
If a player is taking a goal kick, throw-in etc and takes too long to do it then the referee may caution that player for delaying the restart of play. As you saw, the referee warned the player first - that was reasonable.
However, the referee cannot change the restart to the opponents. Except for a couple of certain situations when a penalty kick is taken, nothing that happens when the ball is out of play changes the restart. If the player is delaying, the referee should show the player a yellow card, but they still have the restart.

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Muhammad,
If the referee considers a player is delaying the restart (whether at a throw-in or any other restart) the player can be cautioned. The referee could choose to warn the player first if the delay is not too excessive but might equally choose to caution immediately if the situation warrants it. However the restart has to remain as a throw-in, even if the player is cautioned.

Similarly on a goal-kick that does not leave the penalty area, where the referee might just warn the player to start with and then caution them if the behaviour is repeated, the restart has to remain the same as the reason play was stopped (in this case, a goal kick). The restart cannot be changed to an IFK, the goal kick must be retaken.

A goalkeeper may not touch the ball with the hands after it was thrown-in to them by a team mate and it makes no difference whether they touch it with the head or chest first, it is still an offence to use the hands.