Goalkeepers, look away now! The handball is one of football’s oldest rules and one that is pretty universally understood, but as this video shows, there are certainly some grey areas when it comes to contact and controversial decisions.
At first glance, the handball rule is as clear as water.
Law 12
“Handling the ball involves a deliberate act of a player making contact with the ball with the hand or arm.”
But upon further inspection, it’s as murky as the water from Flint, Michigan.
Notice the word “deliberate”? That 10-letter word means a simple hand-to-ball collision isn’t enough. The ref must also take into account:
“the movement of the hand towards the ball (not the ball towards the hand); [and] the distance between the opponent and the ball (unexpected ball)…” (Law 12)
In this instance, the keeper rushes out of the box to shut down the breakaway play. Meaning he’s now in the jurisdiction of a regular outfield player and can no longer handle the ball.
He stops less than a metre away as the striker attempts to chip the ball around him. With little room to move, the ball inevitably collides with the keepers arm.
Now there’s no question that by rushing towards the striker, the keeper was deliberately attempting to stop the ball. That is his job after all. But given the close proximity with the opponent and the time he had to react to the players attempted kick, was the contact here intentional? Or even low enough down the arm to be deemed a handball regardless?
Looking the rules, it’s kind of a judgement call by the referee in regards to being ‘deliberate’ as mentioned before.
This is a very tough one and it really could have been called either way, but you can’t help but feel the keeper may have been a little hard done by with a red card as well.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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