Law 9: The Ball in and out of Play1. Ball out of play·Page 101, 2026/27 edition

1. Ball out of play

The provision as it is printed, and everything on Ruleside that turns on it.

The ball is out of play when:
· it touches a match official, remains on the field of play and:
IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, page 101 · clause law-9-cc5a0248

Verdicts that turn on it 2

Walk the tree to any of these and this clause is part of the answer.

Out of play: dropped ballball-in-play
Still in playball-in-play

Explained in the rules library 1

The plain-language pages that build on this provision.

Drop Ball

Questions that ask it 2

Points in a walk where the reader is deciding this provision.

What happened to the ball?ball-in-play
What happened after the ball hit the official?ball-in-play

The Laws of the Game are published by The IFAB and quoted here for the purpose of explaining the decisions on this site. Ruleside is not affiliated with The IFAB or FIFA. Every clause of The Ball in and out of Play that Ruleside cites.