Question Number: 33482

Law 15 - The Throw In 6/26/2019

RE: Competitive Adult

Mike Prasser of La Mesa, California United States asks...

Under the new laws for 2019/2020, Red 10 throws the ball in and the ball rebounds off of the referee and back to Red 10 who then plays the ball. We obviously have an issue, but what is the restart and for who?

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

HI Mike,
INDFK red opponent's ball if a simple accident. double touch
If deliberate or forceful send off red card feasible DFK for opponents. Striking foul
The drop ball if an opponent was to get to the ball after it hit the referee seems incredulous as that gives the thrower an uncontested ball at their feet which is better than the throw in restart? Me thinks it is not what they had in mind when a referee was hit with the ball during a goal scoring or attacking opportunity but the Laws when they change sometimes things not expected do occur. lol Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Mike,
When you talk about 'the new laws for 2019/20' are you referring to the provision for a dropped ball in certain circumstances if the ball touches a match official? If so, I'm pretty sure that does not apply here. The intent of the law change (as stated by the IFAB in the explanation for it) is to prevent an unfair situation occurring where one team gains an advantage from the ball touching the referee. In this situation the team had not gained an unfair advantage, so we simply have a 'double touch' offence which would mean an indirect free kick to the red team's opponents.

As ref Dawson says, if the ball has been thrown deliberately in order to strike the referee, that would lead to a red card for the thrower and a direct free kick to the opponents though I'm not sure that's the scenario you had in mind.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Mike
Under the new Laws a dropped ball is awarded when the ball touches the referee (or another match official) and goes into the goal, team possession changes or a promising attack starts.
In this instance none of the three conditions has been met so it is an IDFK for a double touch offence.
Now if the thrower is savvy enough he should wait to see what transpires. If the ball goes to an opponent there is a dropped ball to the throwers team from where the ball hit the referee. If it goes to a team mate the referee has to decide if it starts a promising attack.
Now I personally have never seen a throw in hit a referee so it is going to be a pretty rare event. If the referee is far enough away which he should be the chances of double touch are slim