Question Number: 17239

Law 15 - Throw In 10/10/2007

RE: Rec Under 17

Daniel H of Vienna, VA USA asks...

Is it ok for a player to take a throw in way behind the spot where the ball went out? let's say 2-5 yards in behind.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Not way out and less tolerance the closer to attacking third the thrower is. The farther away from the touch line past our 1 to 2 meter leeway and closer to the opposing goal an unfair opportunity has neither trivial or doubtful status! If the throw in is done incorrectly it will be a turn over and loss of possesion throw in for the opponents from the correctspot where the ball left the field . The new 2 meter withdrawal area makes the correct spot much easier to obtain!
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Some referees allow much more than others in this area. Go with what the referee on your match asks. I tend to ask players to throw the ball from where it left the field on the first three restarts. Then if they haven't gotten the message I just shrug and give the throw-in to the other side. They get the message soon thereafter. After that I can trust them to do pretty much as I ask and slight differences in the location of the restart are usually acceptable to both teams and me.

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

Two yards, maybe. Five yards is beginning to push it. I once had a young man take it from the far side of the track which surrounded the field. Now that resulted in a throw-in for the other side, as I judged the throw-in to have been illegally taken and an infringement of the requirements of Law 15. Amazingly, the other team threw it in from the correct location! The youngster was trying to take advantage of his team already being in motion, but he was so far away (over 20 feet) when he threw it as to take the other team by surprise unfairly, in my opinion, since they have every right to expect the throw-in will be taken from the spot where it exited the field +/- a few feet. USSF allows some tiny wiggle room, meaing the throw must be within a metre/yard of where it went out, and even allowing for a bit of trifling distance (that's the 2 yards), 5 yards or 15 feet is a long way. For all the other team knew, he was going to give the ball to someone else to throw, or at least return to the vicinity of the field. Since throw-ins are simply a way to get play restarted after the ball left the field, and since they routinely go 50/50 to either side, we normally punish only blatant violations, except in teaching mode or if the throwing team is getting an unfair advantage by their infringement.