Question Number: 30687

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 8/25/2016

RE: Youth to adult, comp and rec.

Barry Stewart of Chilliwack, BC Canada asks...

In searching for some history on soccer rules, I came across this site http://www.history-of-soccer.org, which offered an interesting paragraph on the hand ball foul:

'Here is a good way to tell whether it was intentional or not: if the player could have avoided it in any way, then it was a hand ball. If there was nothing that the player could have done to prevent touching the ball with his hand, then it was not intentional.'

Of course, there's the grey area in between intentional-or-not¦ but does the panel find the above advice useful?

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Well, Ref McHugh has already quoted my personal guidelines for judging handling offences, so I guess there's not much I can add except to say that (as Ref McHugh pointed out to me when we discussed this) my category of moving the hand or arm into the path of the ball can be used to cover the scenarios often described as making oneself bigger and/or having the arms in an unnatural position. It still has to be done as part of a deliberate action though and it is still a matter of the referee's opinion - many times what could be seen as an unnatural position and therefore deliberate by one referee, might not be by another.

It will be interesting to see what the IFAB comes up with in its currently ongoing review of handling offences.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Barry
I watched a Champions League qualifier last week and the referee gave a penalty for deliberate handling. The situation was that the defender went to the ball carrier and as the attacker was about to take the shot the defender turned his back and sort of threw himself backwards at the ball. The ball struck the players underarm / elbow and the referee deemed it deliberate.
Now one could argue that the action was unintentional and also argue that the action was somewhat avoidable perhaps by not making the challenge in that manner in the first place. I could see why it was given yet IMO the player had no intention of using his arm to play the ball. Another referee could have deemed it not deliberate.
So many times referees bow to pressure to award the penalty in such circumstances. I hope that the promised review by IFAB of this subject brings some better clarity to what is deliberate or not. So the historical advice given is still relevant today. The difficulty still remains is that it is the referees opinion if the contact could have been avoided or not.
Referee Grove has a very nice guide for deciding handling as deliberate or not and I quote
* For handling to be considered an offence, the player must deliberately do one of the following:
- initiate the contact - basically, move the hand or arm towards (or into the path of) the ball.
- prolong an initially accidental contact, in order to control or direct the ball.
- avoid moving the hand or arm away from an approaching ball when there was sufficient time/opportunity to do so. *
This is what UEFA has to advise its Senior Group referees
** Handball Considerations
Although football is a game in which players constantly move their arms and hands as a natural part of their movement, in deciding if a player is handling the ball deliberately , it is essential to consider the following points:
# Was it a hand to ball situation or ball to hand? •Are the players hands or arms in a “natural” position?
# Does the player want to “make himself bigger” by using his arms?
# Does the player try to avoidthe ball striking his hand?
# Distance the ball travelled before striking the players hand
# Is the player able to avoid the ball striking his hand?
# Does he use his hand or arm to intentionally touch the ball?
Referees should also consider possible additional circumstances and consequences, e.g. how and where did the offence occur (stopped a promising attack? denied an obvious goal scoring opportunity?) and they must then punish fully in accordance with the Laws of the Game.**
Judgement is still key in these decisions. I rarely see deliberate handling as the vast majority of the time the ball has hit the player.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Barry,
In the 45 plus years identifying the foul of deliberately handles the ball in any capacity or at any level of play I still believe we get it wrong more often then we get it right no matte whose advise we suggest or whose advice we claim to follow. Unless I am 100% convinced he or she reached out solely to grab that ball I likely hold my whistle. If the player DOES reach out I am inclined to show a yellow card hence few handlings occur in my matches unless a yellow card also follows because I can BLATANTLY SEE it is so and it is done to cheat or deny opportunity or is deliberately played in a non playable way.
Cheers