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Subject: Clarification for the Laws of the Game – FIFA
Date: 11 March 2002
Restarts after striking, throwing or spitting.

The International Football Association Board (IFAB) has provided a new interpretation of where a foul has occurred when there has been no direct contact or when the contact has occurred off the field of play. Prior to now, for example, striking using a thrown object was punished where the action originated.

The IFAB now instructs that all such infringements are to be punished where the contact occurs or would have occurred if the action had been successful, provided this location is on the field of play.

There are few exceptions to this rule:

1. If the striking or attempted striking was misconduct (i.e., the actual striking contact occurred off the field or was committed against someone other than an opposing player or substitute), the restart is an indirect free kick from the point of initiation. The guilty player should be sent off for violent conduct and shown the red card.

2. If a substitute, standing outside the field of play, strikes or attempts to strike a player on the field of play, the restart is a dropped ball at the place where the ball was when the blow was struck. The substitute is sent off for violent conduct and shown the red card.

3. If a player, taking a throw-in, throws the ball at an opponent, the referee is presented with a grey area involving sound reading of the conditions of the game. This throw could be considered to be trifling, unsporting behaviour, or violent conduct, depending on the force used. If the throw-in was correctly taken and the referee considers that a foul has been committed, the restart would be a direct free kick from the point of contact. If the throw-in was not correctly taken and the referee considers that misconduct has been committed, the restart would be a retake of the throw-in, because the game was not restarted properly.

The following information from the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) in 2001, is a good example of what to do in cases of spitting and striking. 

USSF DOCUMENT 2001

Restarts after Striking, Throwing or Spitting

Restarts for stoppages of play due to fouls and/or misconduct are normally placed where the foul or misconduct occurred. Penalty kick restarts and restarts inside the goal area are common exceptions to this principle. Determining where the foul/misconduct occurred is relatively easy when direct player-to-player contact (e.g., tripping, pushing, charging) or player-to-ball contact (deliberate handling) is involved. It is the point of contact which determines the location of the infringement and therefore the correct restart. The location of the rest of the infringing player is irrelevant. 

Problems can arise, however, when the foul/misconduct does not involve direct contact. Law 12, for example, includes as penal fouls attempting to trip, kick, or strike. Spitting is also a penal foul which does not require direct contact at all (both attempts and successful acts are punished). Finally, striking can include the use of thrown objects which, like spitting, may or may not be successful in actually making contact with the victim.

The International Football Association Board (IFAB) has recently provided a new interpretation of where a foul has occurred when there has been no direct contact or when the contact has occurred off the field of play. Prior to now, for example, striking using a thrown object was punished where the action originated (see USSF Advice to Referees on the Laws of the Game12.6, which will be updated in 2001). The IFAB now instructs that all such infringements are to be punished where the contact occurs or would have occurred if the action had been successful, provided this location is on the field of play. The July 2000 version of FIFA's Questions and Answers to the Laws of the Game incorporates this new interpretation and referees in the United States should begin to implement this guidance immediately. (Note: The FIFA 2004 Questions and Answers are now available).

The following six cases illustrate the International Board's interpretation on restarts for striking, whether done with the hand or with an object. When reading these cases, please remember that: 

a. "objects" can be the ball, shoes, stones, dirt clods, etc. 
b. in all the cases covered in this memorandum, spitting should be treated as striking, except that the referee's match report must say that the player was sent off for spitting at an opponent, not violent conduct
c. if the ball was not in play when the striking took place, when the ball or an object was thrown, or when a participant spat at an opponent or any other person, the restart can be only for the reason that the ball was out of play.

The misconduct will be punished as indicated.

Case 1 (Q&A 12.18): Striking an opponent or throwing a ball or object from within the player's own penalty area (or spitting at an opponent).

1a. The goalkeeper, standing within his own penalty area, strikes or throws the ball or an object violently at an opponent standing outside the penalty area. The goalkeeper must be sent off for violent conduct and shown the red card. Whether the blow or the ball/object strikes the opponent or not, the restart is a direct free kick from the place where the opponent was when the blow, ball or object was thrown at him. (If the opponent was within the penalty area at the moment the goalkeeper threw the ball or object, the restart is a penalty kick.)

1b. The punishment and restart are the same as above if another player strikes or throws an object from within his own penalty area at an opponent standing outside the penalty area. (If the opponent was within the penalty area at the moment the player threw the ball or object, the restart is a penalty kick.)

1c. A player other than the goalkeeper throws the ball from within his own penalty area at an opponent standing outside the penalty area. The player is sent off for violent conduct and shown the red card, but the restart is a penalty kick, because the player deliberately handled the ball within his own penalty area before throwing it at the opponent.

Case 2 (Q&A 12.18): Striking an opponent or throwing an object into the penalty area.

2a. While the ball is in play, a player throws an object (shoe, dirt clod, etc.) at the opposing goalkeeper who is standing inside his own penalty area. Whether the object hit the goalkeeper or not, the restart is a direct free kick where the goalkeeper was standing (not from where the throw was initiated.

2b. While the ball is in play, a fullback standing outside his own penalty area throws an object at an opponent who is inside the fullback's penalty area. The restart is a penalty kick.

2c. While the ball is in play, a player outside his penalty area picks up the ball and throws it at an opponent. Regardless of where the opponent is standing, the restart is a direct free for the deliberate handling. 
In all three situations under Case 2, the thrower is sent off for violent conduct and shown the red card.
Case 3 (Q&A 12.19): Player on field strikes or throws the ball or an object at an opponent or other person off the field of play

3a. With the ball in play, a player on the field strikes or throws an object at an opponent or other person off the field of play. The restart is an indirect free kick for the opponent's team from the place where the striking was initiated because play was stopped for the violent conduct (misconduct).

3b. A player on the field picks up the ball and throws it at an opponent or other person off the field of play. The restart is a direct free kick from the place where the ball was deliberately handled. In both cases, the thrower is sent off for violent conduct and shown the red card.

Case 4 (Q&A 12.20): A player or substitute off the field strikes or throws an object at an opponent on the field while the ball is in play. The player or substitute must be ordered off for violent conduct and shown the red card. The restart is a dropped ball at the place where the ball was when the blow or object was thrown. (The misconduct was not committed by a player on the field and so stopping for this misconduct requires a dropped ball).

Case 5 (Q&A 3.13): A substitute of Team A enters the field of play without permission and is struck by an opponent (Team B) while the ball is in play. The opponent (Team B) is sent off for violent conduct and shown the red card. The substitute (Team A) is cautioned for illegally entering the field. The game is restarted with an indirect free kick for Team A from the place where the contact occurred. No foul was committed in this case and so the stoppage was for misconduct committed by a player on the field. 

In this situation, if the referee had already decided to stop play for the illegal entry before the opponent struck the substitute, the restart would be a dropped ball at the place where the ball was when the referee decided to stop play.

Case 6 (Q&A 15.3): Throwing the ball at an opponent at a throw-in

6a. If a legal throw-in was not thrown carelessly, recklessly or with excessive force and had no effect on the player who was struck, there is no infringement of the Law.

6b. If a legal throw-in was thrown at an opponent carelessly, recklessly, or with excessive force, the referee should call the foul and/or the misconduct. If there was misconduct, the thrower should either be cautioned for unsporting behaviour and shown the yellow card (if the action was reckless) or sent off for violent conduct and shown the red card (if the action involved excessive force). In both cases, the restart would be a direct free kick from the place where contact (would have) occurred.

6c. In the case of an illegal throw-in, one not taken in accordance with the requirements of Law 15, the thrower may still be punished as in 6b. The restart would be a throw-in by the opposing team because the throw-in was not taken in accordance with Law 15 and therefore the misconduct occurred during a stoppage of play.

NOTE: For all direct and indirect free kick or dropped ball restarts noted in this memorandum the referee must remember the special circumstances of Law 8 (restarts within the goal area).

Question: The referee awards a corner kick. The defending goalkeeper is in his own goal area, and is angry because of a presumed foul on him by an opponent, that was not punished by the referee, before the corner kick was awarded. Just after the corner kick is taken, the goalkeeper takes off a glove, and throws it violently into an opponent's face. The Referee stops play. The opponent was standing outside of the field of play, in the area of the goal, underneath the goal net. What action should the Referee take?

Answer: The Referee should send off the goalkeeper for violent conduct. 
The Referee should restart with an indirect free kick to the attacking team, to be taken from the goal area line parallel to the goal line at the point nearest to where the goalkeeper was standing when he threw the glove.

(Source: Clarification for the Laws of the Game - IFAB Instruction from FIFA dated: 11 March 2002. Restarts after striking, throwing or spitting. 

"If the striking or attempted striking was misconduct (i.e., the actual striking contact occurred off the field or was committed against someone other than an opposing player or substitute), the restart is an indirect free kick from the point of initiation. The guilty player should be sent off for violent conduct and shown the red card.")

End of the Spitting & Striking page