Question Number: 30959

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 10/26/2016

RE: Competive Adult

Freddie of Cairo, Egypt asks...

I'm the defender inside the PA with the opposing player coming towards me from cornerkick line.
He passes the ball swiftly with the ball hitting my toes and swirls upwards hitting my fist, putting in mind that my arm was straight and parallel touching my body without any movement and no intensions .

I had this incident twice with one ref said to continue playing and the other judged a penalty kick.

Whats your opinion?

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

HI Freddie,
perception is a funny thing what one sees in something another sees it different. A quick ball movement that deflects off you and the ball hits the arm or hand the whistle should remain silent. Yet if you deliberately step into the ball to play it away and misjudge you might be seen as using your hands should there be contact with the ball. As we often point out if the whistle stayed silent 90% of the time the correct call would be made . Meaning at the recreational level about 1 out of every ten incidents is deserving of a dfk for the foul of handles the ball deliberately. This decreases over time and age and skill but in my opinion we have far too many stoppages for this type of foul even at the elite level. Have a boo at Q&A 30942 and look up in the search engine on our front page any number of the handling foul questions we have received over the years. Each referee his match his decision his reputation is based on the choices made based on what he knows, what he understands ad what he sees.

Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Freddie,

Judging whether a deliberate handling offence has occurred is possibly one of the most subjective areas of the laws.

Unfortunately, it is entirely possible that two referees could look at the same incident and after considering all the factors that the laws of the game tell us to consider, each come to completely different decisions (as you have found).

There is a possibility that the IFAB's ongoing process of amending the laws will come up with a better set of guidelines to make decisions on handball clearer and more consistent (as is their stated aim) but we will have to wait and see what they come up with and how it gets put into practice before we will know whether their aim will actually be achieved.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Freddie
As described it is not deliberate handling so play should continue. Obviously it can look different to a referee from his angle of view, the location of the hand, no attempt to avoid the ball etc.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Part of the considerations of whether handling was deliberate or not is whether the ref thought you had time to move the arm out of the way so it wouldn't get hit by the ball. Perhaps one ref thought you had the chance, the other didn't, and thus a difference in calls.