A player appears to take a throw-in but suddenly leaves the ball to a team-mate. What action does the referee take?

THE DECISION

If the team is deliberately delaying the throw-in, the referee may use their whistle and/or voice to indicate that they should hurry up. To start the five-second countdown (which may start without the above cue), the referee blows the whistle, signals with their hand/arm for the throw-in to be taken and counts down the five seconds with a raised hand. If the ball is not in play by the end of the five seconds, the referee awards the throw-in to the opposing team from the same position as the original throw-in.