Question Number: 17321

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 10/15/2007

RE: rec, rep. all ages Under 19

Alex Platt of newark, DE usa asks...

1) a girl steps over the line on a throw in, foul throw or handball?
i called the latter.

2) if a foul is committed but the ball is already out of play, can you call the foul? or is just a warning? seems unfair if the offending player then receives the ball back for their throw in..

thanks.

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

ACK! Alex, where is your referee instructor? We need to talk! In the first place, a thrower cannot be charged with handling a ball from a throw-in - that is fundamentally unfair and wrong. The throwing motion when a throw-in is taken naturally continues from behind the head to some point in front of the thrower, which usually means the ball has broken the plane of the field and will be in play the moment it leaves her hands. If she had her foot over the line (no part of the foot touching the line) then it is an illegal throw-in, an infringement of Law 15, and the throw-in is then awarded to the other side. Were you absent during this part of the training? In your second scenario, it seems you also missed the requirements for a foul: a) the ball must be in play; b) the offense must occur on the field; c) a player must commit the offense d) against an opponent (except for deliberate handling). So, if the ball is out of play there can be no offense/foul. Misconduct (caution or send-off) can occur with the ball out of play. Go back and re-read Law 12 and Law 15 and then read the Advice to Referees on these Laws and get yourself a bit better informed before you accept another assignment. Regards.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

When your instructor went through throw-ins he should have made it clear the ball is in play when it enters the field of play AND leaves the thrower's hands. Knowing that will give handling in the future?

Fairness when applying the Law is not something we should be concerned with, if you apply the Law correctly it will be fair. Now, there is an infraction of the Law involving some kind of foul play AND you recognize it as such. That is in your head, right? After that the ball leaves the field of play... Your decision is? Yes! Free kick.

Let's turn that around. The ball leaves the field of play. THEN, something happens that just happens to look like foul play. Your decision is? Aha, this one is a goal kick, throw-in, corner kick OR kick off because those or the only possible restarts when the ball crosses a field boundary. That does not say you are prohibited from dealing with what looked like foul as a breach in discipline.

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

If the whole foot is over the whole line, then the throw in is awarded to the other team. A foul can only occur if the ball is in play, it is against an opponent (except handling deliberatly), and it happend on field. So the answer to your question is no.