Question Number: 32437

Law 15 - The Throw In 5/8/2018

RE: rec level 1 Under 15

david petri of omaha, ne usa asks...

player ready to throw in, but coach yells for another player to take it. Player holding ball lowers it to waist level and tosses it to player running to touch line, but still in field of play.
illegal throwin or not?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi David
Not an illegal throw in. All that has happened is the ball was tossed to a team mate to take the throw in so it could not be viewed as anything other than a transfer of the ball.
I have seen players put the ball behind their head to take a TI and then drop the ball behind for another team mate to take the throw. Always ignored by referees and correctly so.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi David,
The laws allow for a lot of 'understanding of the game'. Referees can use common sense in understanding what's happening. Here, it's clear the player wasn't intending to take a throw-in, so no need to consider it as such. No need to get hung up on the fact that the player tossed it to another.

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi David,
Not an offence for me - in fact you see this kind of thing fairly often and it is never penalised. This is another example of where the referee should interpret the law within the 'spirit of the game' and use common sense to arrive at the conclusion that football wants/expects.