Question Number: 33656

Law 8 - The Start and Restart of Play 9/17/2019

RE: Rec Under 14

Cody Y Tatum of Hampton, Virginia United States asks...

Ref got in the way of the ball. Opposing team had possession and kicked it, bounced off the referee's legs and went OOB. Ref then gave it to the same team. Stated 'the last team with posession.' Legal? Seems off since he is part of the field of play.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Cody
The Law has been amended here and in certain instances it is now a dropped ball.
Now I suspect what happened here was the referee knew that there has been a law change and as the team in possession was disadvantaged by the ball hitting him he went with the DB restart.
Had the ball stayed on the field of play and one of the following happened
# a team starts a promising attack or
# the ball goes directly into the goal or
# the team in possession of the ball changes
the referee stops play and restarts with a dropped ball.
As the ball went out of play the correct restart was a throw in.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

HI Cody,
The LOTG have undergone extensive revisions these past few years and as such many referees are only partially understanding or interpreting correctly all the changes. The referees are indeed part of the play. Previously officials were essentially considered as a moving goal posts. If while the the ball was in play it rebounded off or struck them while on the FOP, play simply continued as if nothing had occurred.

IFAB became concerned that OCCASIONALLY when a referee or official was struck by the ball during live play it resulted in a very favorable outcome for one team or the other.
This bothered some & as a result, depending on the outcome of this action the referee could choose to stop play and restart with drop ball.

What he forgot was the ball DID NOT remain in play after hitting the official. The official in your match incorrectly parsed the meaning of the section of law stating IF team in possession of the ball changed a drop ball in their favor was mandated due to the opposition gaining the restarting throw-in.
He likely thought it unfair the opposition gets the throw in but was unaware of the information document known as:

FIFA Circular no.17
Zurich, 21 August 2019
SEC/2019-C320/bru
Laws of the Game 2019/20 – Important clarifications

Law 8 the start & restart of play!
It is ONLY a dropped ball when the ball touches the referee (or another match official ) and 'remains in play.' IF the ball goes out of play, the game restarts as if it had NOT TOUCHED the match official


DROPPED BALL
Procedure
The ball is dropped for the defending team goalkeeper in their penalty area if, when play was stopped:

the ball was in the penalty area or

the last touch of the ball was in the penalty area

In all other cases, the referee drops the ball for one player of the team that last touched the ball at the position where it last touched a player, an outside agent or, as outlined in Law 9.1, a match official.

1. BALL OUT OF PLAY
The ball is out of play when:

it has wholly passed over the goal line or touchline on the ground or in the air

play has been stopped by the referee

it touches a match official, remains on the field of play and:

a team starts a promising attack or

the ball goes directly into the goal or

the team in possession of the ball changes

In all these cases, play is restarted with a dropped ball.

Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Cody,
It seems to me this referee may have been confused over the new provisions regarding a dropped ball?

These state that a dropped ball is awarded if the ball:

'''... touches a match official, remains on the field of play and: a team starts a promising attack or the ball goes directly into the goal or the team in possession of the ball changes''

Since all dropped balls outside the penalty area now go the the team that last touched the ball, if the conditions for a dropped ball had been met, the ball would have gone to the last team with possession.

However, this does not apply if the ball goes out of play, so the referee in this instance, was incorrect.