Question:
If a player taking a throw-in complies with all four of the ‘Procedures’ listed in Law 15, but takes it from further than one yard (one meter) of where it crossed the touchline, (and the ball directly enters the field of play) is that throw regarded (under ATR 15.4) to have been taken ‘illegally’ – and so possession given to the opponents, or is it taken ‘improperly’ – and the team permitted to throw it again?
USSF answer (June 16, 2008):
The requirement that the ball be thrown in from no more than one yard (one meter) of the place where it left the field is one of those items that the International F. A. Board, the authors of the Laws of the Game, assumes that everyone knows and therefore does not need to be included in the Law. (The same is true of the fact that a player sent off may not be replaced; these and a few other items used to be in the Laws, but are now “universally accepted” and thus no longer included.) It should be regarded as one item in the procedures for throwing in the ball correctly. Therefore, failure to throw the ball in from within the correct distance could be regarded as a reason to award the throw-in to the opposing team.
