Players must now stand clear at  throw-ins


Most football fans will remember 1966 as the year that England won the World Cup. However there was a somewhat smaller piece of football history that year. 

A Bournemouth and Boscombe FC player, caused a change of law for the throw-in. And it happened because the club's FA Cup run had been shown on television. It highlighted one of the Cherries' players who jumped up and down and waved his arms about in front of the thrower every time their opponents had a throw-in. 

The referee at that time, was powerless to stop him and of course being shown on television, other players at other clubs started to copy his actions. But being on television also meant that some of the hierarchy in the game saw what was happening and the International FA Board at their meeting in 1966 decided to put a stop to it.

The Board introduced a new clause, which read 'If when a throw-in is being taken, any of the opposing players dance about or gesticulate in a way calculated to distract or impede the thrower, it shall be deemed ungentlemanly conduct for which he shall be cautioned.' When they rewrote the laws in 1995, they shortened this to 'If a opponent unfairly distracts or impedes the thrower, he is cautioned for unsporting behaviour and shown the yellow card.' 

This seemed to put an end to it. But in the last year or two another tactic has become more common at throw-ins, at least in games which I have refereed. When a player is about to take a throw-win, an opponent stands passively just inside the field of play, no arm waving or jumping up and down but at the point where the throw is to be taken. The law says the throw-in must be taken from the point it left the field of play, so the thrower cannot legitimately throw the ball in from elsewhere, or even a yard or two behind the line.

To be honest, when it started I wasn't too bothered. Then I had a situation, where the thrower decided he would take it out on the opponent who was trying to hinder his throw. After the ball was released, he carried on with his arms, coming down with some force on the opponent's head or shoulders. My first thought was 'Serves him right; he shouldn't be standing there in the first place.' 

But as referees, we try if possible to prevent trouble rather than just punish it after it has happened. I could see that this could quickly lead to a confrontation between the two players, so in this game and subsequent matches when this tactic was tried, I told the player to stand clear of the thrower. Perhaps I was stretching the law on impeding a little but I thought better that, than having to sort out a punch-up. 

Now it seems quite clear that I'm not the only referee to have experienced this problem. There is an addition to the throw-in law this season, which reads 'All opponents must stand no less than two metres from the point at which the throw-in is to be taken.' That is good for referees. We can quite legitimately say to any player standing too close, 'Two paces away please.' What the new law doesn't say is what sanctions a referee can impose if a player refuses to move away. We can't invoke the clause in Law 12, which says the referee will caution any player who fails to respect the distance. That is specifically for free-kicks and corner kicks. Instead we could use 'delaying the restart' which is also punishable by a caution. 

This is only a small alteration to the laws but like the one in 1966, it will remove an annoying tactic and make life a little easier for referees. 

Dick Sawdon Smith

 

 

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© R Sawdon Smith 2005