Question Number: 36034

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 9/22/2025

RE: Adult

Demetrios Protopapas of Limassol, Limassol Cyprus asks...

Hello there,pls consider video link https://youtu.be/1Nb2nPAEjuA?si=JPxHBnhSmhLzI44x (football match Apollon v ENP 3-0) at 1:07 there was a handball inside the box.ln your opinion Was it a penalty or not? And I have another question for you.If a defender kicks the ball on his teemate's hand inside the box is it a penalty (even if the ball has the direction towards the center of the field?/Thx

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Demetrios,
let's give the referee some credit here, he was right.there watching so he saw the event which is also why there was no reason for VAR to intervene. The defender tried to clear the ball which bounced off his foot into the air. The on field referee made a decision, a judgement call and saw it as an accidental deflection, therefore no call.

As to your other incident if a teammate smacks a ball into another teammate's hand again it's again likely to be thought of as just an accidental impact.

However, arbitrarily, just as with the first incident, it is possible that the teammate could reach out instinctively and try and swat a ball he shouldn't touch. I can see some justification that in the 1st incident at 1:07 the raised arm could be interpreted as having moved into the ball rather than the ball deflected into the arm.

Teams should earn their scoring chances they shouldn't be gifted them because of a iffy call.

That ball was on the ground it was in no way near his arm except after when it pops up so the initial intent was NOT to handle, the same could be said for any ball another teammate tried to clear but hits a team mates arm.

Was it an unfair cheating maneuver designed to rob the opposition of a chance to play the ball or stop an attack? When it clearly is, it's a deliberate foul and punishable by the DFK or PK.

There was enough ,in my opinion to swing the no call as justified!

Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Demetrios
Thanks for the video and the question.
Deliberate handling is one of the most debated decisions in the game. Despite IFAB the Law Governing body trying to bring greater certainty to the decision it is still fraught with difficulty.
The only certainty that has been brought is that a goal cannot be scored by a player where there has been contact on the scorers hand which includes accidental and non deliberate handling.
A few seasons ago UEFA opined the following

Although football is a game in which players constantly move their arms and hands as a natural part of their movement, it is recommended that 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 player's hands or arm in a "natural" position?
# Should the player take the consequences of having his hand or arms lifted high?
# Does the player try to avoid the ball striking his hand?
# Is the player able to avoid the ball striking his hand?
# Does he use his hand or arm to intentionally touch the ball?''

In 20/21 IFAB opined that not every contact of the ball with the hand/arm is an offence and that a player’s hand/arm position should be judged in relation to their body movement in a particular situation.
Going back a bit further it was opined that a player playing the ball on to their arm was unlikely to be deliberate although that was later thought to be too prescriptive and subsequently amended to what we have now which is when the position of a players hand/arm is not a consequence of, or justifiable by, the player’s body movement for that specific situation.

So a straw poll of referees would not result in anywhere near unanimity. Some might not like the raised arm while others see the ball being unintentionally kicked by the player on to his arm.

For me it is not deliberate handling and I would be content with the referee’s on-field decision of no offence.
I watch countless games and every contact on the hand will attracts howls for handling. I see ones given others not. I’m old school in that was it hand to ball or ball to hand.
This was ball to hand and therefore no call was correct for me. Others can disagree.

As to the situation of a team mate kicking the ball off a teammates arm and it is accidental I see no reason to call that either as an offence.
This is what IFAB says

A defender tries to kick the ball out. The ball hits the arm of another defender who is standing close in their penalty area
and does not expect the ball to come from a team-mate.
What is the correct decision? The referee allows play to continue. It is not a handball offence - the defender is not considered to have made their body unnaturally bigger (whether or not the arm was close to the body or already extended).

I watched a FIFA training course video on line some years ago where the instructor asked what looked like a room of 40 or so senior referee to look at handling videos, to close their eyes so as not t9 be influenced by the room and raise their hand if they thought the particular questionable handling incident was an offence. I would safely say it looked like an equally decided room on most of the videos.
So there are countless videos of handlings given / no given depending on the referees opinion on the day..