The ball is out of play when:
it has wholly passed over the goal line or touchline on the ground or in the air
play has been stopped by the referee
it touches a match official, remains on the field of play and:
a team starts a promising attack or
the ball goes directly into the goal or
the team in possession of the ball changes
In all these cases, play is restarted with a dropped ball.
The ball is in play at all other times when it touches a match official and when it rebounds off a goalpost, crossbar or corner flagpost and remains on the field of play.
The referee stops play and awards a dropped ball to the goalkeeper's team at the point where the ball touched the referee.
The ball is out of play when it touches a match official, remains on the field of play and:
a team starts a promising attack or
the ball goes directly into the goal or
the team in possession of the ball changes
The ball is in play at all other times when it touches a match official and has not wholly passed over the goal line or touchline.
Play is stopped, restarted with a dropped ball for the team that last touched the ball (before it touched the match official) at the point where it touched the match official.
A goal kick/a throw-in is awarded to the opponents because play restarts as if the ball has not hit/touched the referee. A dropped ball is only when the ball touches a match official, remains on the field of play and
a team starts a promising attack or
the ball goes directly into the goal or
the team in possession changes.
The dropped ball is at the point where it touched the referee.
Play is stopped, the referee drops the ball for one player of Team A at the position where the ball touched the referee.
The goal is disallowed and play restarts with a dropped ball for the defending team goalkeeper in their penalty area.
The referee will award a throw-in to the opponents (Team B) as Law 9 clearly states that it is a dropped ball only when the ball remains on the field of play.
