Purpose

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to identify a correctly and incorrectly taken throw-in under Law 15.

Lesson Explanation

Law 15 governs the throw-in, awarded when the whole ball has crossed the touchline (Part 1, Lesson 6’s “wholly crossed” principle applies identically here), whether on the ground or in the air, to the opponents of the player who last touched the ball.

A correctly taken throw-in requires the thrower to: face the field of play; have part of each foot on the touchline or on the ground outside it; use both hands; and deliver the ball from behind and over the head. The throw is taken from the point where the ball crossed the touchline (or, for a match with a technical area, potentially adjusted for throws near that area).

A genuinely common practical issue: an incorrectly taken throw-in (a “foul throw”) — for instance, one foot lifted off the ground, a one-handed release, or the ball not delivered from behind the head — results in the throw being awarded to the opposing team, from the same location.

A genuinely important detail connecting to Part 2, Lesson 2’s offside-adjacent goalkeeper rule: the thrower cannot be penalized for offside directly from their own throw-in (offside cannot be assessed from a throw-in at all, under Law 11, covered in Part 4), but a goalkeeper who receives the ball directly from a teammate’s throw-in may not handle it, exactly as with a deliberate kick — an indirect free kick is awarded to the opposing team if this occurs. A goal cannot be scored directly from a throw-in; if the ball enters the goal without touching another player, the restart is a goal kick or corner kick, following the same logic as an indirect free kick from Part 2, Lesson 2.

Practice Questions