Why stricter rules for ball children could soon apply in football

In football, it is mainly the 22 players on the pitch and the referee who intervene in the game. But ball children can also influence a game – for example by giving out the spare ball particularly quickly or slowly. In some games this has already led to goals.

Since the home teams are allowed to choose the ball children, they usually act in the hosts’ favor. Therefore, a new rule has been in effect in the Premier League since March 2024, which is intended to create a level playing field. The replacement balls are no longer thrown to the players, but they get them themselves. Ball children place the balls on cones on the edge of the field. The Italian Serie A implements a similar system. What is the status in Germany?

Bayer Leverkusen, Holstein Kiel, TSG Hoffenheim and FC Augsburg are already following the role models from England and Italy. In the Bundesliga stadiums, not all substitute balls are placed on cones; sometimes they are just lying around in the touchline. But the principle is the same.

So far, the procedure is not mandatory for German clubs. According to the “Sportschau”, a league-wide implementation is currently not planned. When asked, the DFL simply stated that it was “looking into the issue.” Apart from that, it is questionable whether more neutral ball children really ensure a fairer game.

If players want to increase the pace or buy time, they can find a way without ball children. You can quickly grab the spare balls on the cones or on the sidelines for a throw-in and initiate a counterattack. Or they slow down towards the sideline and calmly get the spare ball.

However, the concept can also be exploited and does not rule out unsportsmanlike behavior. The “Sportschau” cites a scene from the top game between Bayer Leverkusen and VfB Stuttgart (0-0) last Friday as an example: Stuttgart’s Enzo Millot kicked one of the spare balls lying around onto the field as a second ball in order to force a short interruption. He accepted the yellow card for this. With ball children, Millot would not have been able to delay the continuation of the game in this situation.

In international competitions such as the Champions League, UEFA leaves the clubs no choice – and continues to demand the classic system with ball children. It has already been shown in the premier class that ball children can influence a game.

A particularly well-known example occurred at the end of 2019. During the Champions League preliminary round game between Tottenham Hotspur and Olympiakos Piraeus (4:2), a ball boy threw the substitute ball to the player Aurier so quickly that there was between his throw-in and the subsequent goal from Harry Kane (today FC Bayern) only needed one more pass.

Immediately after the goal, the then coach José Mourinho thanked the ball boy with a handshake – and later invited him to dinner with the entire team.

There have also been unpleasant scenes between players and ball children in the past. At the end of last year, when the Premier League was still using the old principle, German goalkeeper Bernd Leno caused an exciting scene with a ball boy. When his club FC Fulham lost 3-0 to AFC Bournemouth, Leno took the ball harshly out of the boy’s hand and also touched him. At least the keeper apologized afterwards.

Almost two months earlier, the then Union Berlin striker Sheraldo Becker committed an unsportsmanlike action against a ball boy during the 2-0 defeat in Bremen. Because, in his opinion, the teenager had obviously given him the ball too slowly during a throw-in, Becker simply pushed the ball boy over, as could be seen on TV images.

On the one hand, such scenes could be avoided with the new concept. On the other hand, this doesn’t necessarily make the game fairer. The principle can even be exploited. Because players can delay the pace of a game even without ball children.

Sources: “”, with DPA material