When you start refereeing, there are so many Laws to learn, including some obscure ones that you may never have to deal with during your refereeing career.
One of these is how to restart the game if the ball should burst whilst in play, or becomes so inflated that you have to stop the game.
I mention this because the Law regarding this possibility, has changed this season. On the face of it, it doesn’t seem to be a change at all. One referee said, it’s just a reminder to drop the ball.
It is in fact a little more than that because it is linked with last season’s change to a dropped ball to restart a game,
The Law previously said, ‘If the ball becomes deflated, play is stopped and restarted by dropping the replacement ball. where the original became deflated’.
So if it burst on hitting the goalpost, it would be dropped in the goal area. The Law now simply says,’ the referee restarts the game with a dropped ball.
So what’s the difference? It is that the ball must now be dropped at the feet of one player of the team
that last touched the ball at the position it was last touched.
The exception to this is if the ball is last touched in the penalty area, when the ball is always dropped for the goalkeeper.
This follows last year’s change which seems to have escaped the notice of many players, coaches and sad to say some referees.
When the ball is dropped at the player’s feet, all other players, on both sides, must remain at least 4 metres away. There has also been an addition to this Law this year saying that any player failing to do this, should get a yellow card.
Why did they change this dropped ball Law?
Not I think, because contesting it was dangerous, as players didn’t to that any more. It is to stop this inane practise of kicking the ball back to the goalkeeper. That was never in the Laws, nor did referees have the authority to order it.
By Dick Sawdon Smith
