Accidental handball in the build-up to a goal or goalscoring opportunity will “no longer be considered an offence”, football’s law-making body the International Football Association Board (IFAB) has announced.
There has been much controversy surrounding the handball rule and its application, most recently in Thursday-night’s Premier League game between Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur. Fulham had a goal disallowed after Mario Lemina was ruled to have handled the ball in the 62nd minute.
Speaking at IFAB’s annual general meeting on Friday, former referee and chairman of the FIFA referees committee Pierluigi Collina said: “IFAB has got much better at recognising changes in the game that have happened in the last few years but we still can’t recognise something that happened last night at Craven Cottage.”
Advertisement
What has IFAB said?
IFAB admitted there has not always been consistency with the application of the handball rule, saying: “As the interpretation of handball incidents has not always been consistent due to incorrect applications of the Law, the members confirmed that not every touch of a player’s hand/arm with the ball is an offence.
“In terms of the criterion of the hand/arm making a player’s body ‘unnaturally bigger’, it was confirmed that referees should continue to use their judgment in determining the validity of the hand/arm’s position in relation to the player’s movement in that specific situation.”
Crucially, it has ruled that “accidental handball that leads to a team-mate scoring a goal or having a goal-scoring opportunity will no longer be considered an offence”.
So, what is handball then?
IFAB has now clarified that it is a handball offence when a player:
- “Deliberately touches the ball with their hand/arm, for example moving the hand/arm towards the ball;
- Touches the ball with their hand/arm when it has made their body unnaturally bigger. A player is considered to have made their body unnaturally bigger when the position of their hand/arm is not a consequence of, or justifiable by, the player’s body movement for that specific situation. By having their hand/arm in such a position, the player takes a risk of their hand/arm being hit by the ball and being penalised; or
- Scores in the opponents’ goal:
- directly from their hand/arm, even if accidental, including by the goalkeeper; or
- immediately after the ball has touched their hand/arm, even if accidental.”
Do the changes come into effect immediately?
This is unclear. IFAB says that the date on which the changes to the Laws of the Game come into effect on July 1.
However, it added that “competitions will retain the flexibility to introduce changes prior to that date”, meaning the Premier League, among other competitions, could apply the law change about accidental handball immediately.
What else did IFAB discuss?
IFAB also clarified the use of the arm in relation to the offside rule, saying: “the Law 12 definition for handball, whereby the arm ends at the bottom of the armpit, must be used when judging whether a player is in an offside position.”
It also updated its members on the on-going concussion substitutes trial, and said that football- and medical-related data will continue to be collected to inform any potential rule changes to the Laws of the Game.
VAR was also discussed, with IFAB saying: “The members also received updates from FIFA on potential adaptions to the offside Law and the latest developments concerning innovations related to video assistant referees (VARs) that could enable competitions with more limited budgets to use VAR technology.”
(Photo: Kirsty Wigglesworth – Pool/Getty Images)
ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57k2tpa29la3xzfJFqZmlrX2WCcK3CnKCdnZ6prq15x5qlnZqRoblutc1mma6hnJl6tryMraZmmV2cvKK4jKemZqSfo7SmvoycpqermZmys7HDZpinZZ%2Bbs6a6wp5m