Dropped-ball

A dropped-ball (or drop-ball) is a method of restarting play in a game of association football.

It is used when play has been stopped due to reasons other than normal gameplay, fouls, or misconduct.

In games which use video assistant referees (VAR), if a VAR review determines that play should not have been stopped, such as when a decision to award a penalty is reversed, play is restarted with a dropped ball at the point of the incorrect call.

If the ball enters either goal without having been touched by two players, the result is a goal-kick or corner-kick.

The justification given by the Football Association for this change was that "[t]here have been a number of occasions where goals have been scored from 'uncontested' dropped balls ... We then have the unseemly situation where the opposition allows the team to score from the kick-off without any players trying to stop them in order to rebalance the game.

Contested drop balls became exceedingly rare in the modern game.

[15] The official justification given for this change was that "[t]he [previous] dropped ball procedure often leads to a 'manufactured' restart which is 'exploited' unfairly (e.g. kicking the ball out for a throw-in deep in the opponents' half) or an aggressive confrontation.

[1] Previously, the match officials were considered part of the field and play continued if the ball touched an official regardless of the result, unless the ball went out of play for a different reason such as going off the field.