You stand facing the pitch, both feet touching or behind the line and throw the ball into play with both hands from behind your head. Those are the rules for taking a throw-in in a football match. The rules for soccer as we know it today were codified for the first time at Cambridge University in 1848. They were urgently needed to keep the game on track and to prevent things turning violent. Up until then, each football club had its own rules, which led to frequent flare-ups on the pitch. The new rules were adopted in turn by the English Football Association in 1863, the year in which it was founded. International competitions came into being when the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) was set up in 1904, marking the start of the global football mania we know today. Although the basic principles of the game are pretty straightforward, things like how a player should take a penalty, goal or a corner kick have to be the same for everyone. The ball itself has to comply with specific regulations too, in terms of its shape, material, size, weight and air pressure. In this way, the rules determine not only the game in general, but also how the player is permitted to move the ball around the pitch. With occasionally spectacular manoeuvres as a result.