Question Number: 32525

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 6/19/2018

RE: Adult

Gareth Parker of Thetford, Norfolk GB asks...

In what circumstances would a handball result in a red card?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Gareth
Two instances where a plater can recieve a red card.
One is where a player deliberately handles the ball to prevent a goal or goal scoring opportunity and the other is where a player receives a second caution for deliberate handling such as interfering with or stops a promising or handling the ball in an attempt to score a goal (whether or not the attempt is successful) or in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent a goal.
In the first one it is a straight red card while in the seconds ones a second yellow is shied followed by a red card

Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

Only if the player handled the ball deliberately and it denied an obvious goal scoring opportunity. Basically this means that the ball would have went in the goal had the player not cheated.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Gareth ,
if the handling denies a goal or an opportunity to score a goal!
excellent example in todays Columbia Japan match where the Columbian player was sent off after only 3 minutes for using his hands to deny the ball entry into his goal. This forced Columbia to play with ten men almost the entire match. Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Gareth,
There are only two ways for a player to get a straight red card for a single handling offence; denying a goal, which means deliberately blocking the ball with the hand when it is on its way into the net or denying a goal scoring opportunity by deliberately handling the ball, which is when a player stops the ball from going to a player who would have had an obvious chance to score a goal, if not for the handling offence.

A player could also be sent off for committing a cautionable handling offence (in the circumstances as described by ref McHugh) when already on a yellow card for a previous offence.