Question Number: 35629

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 7/24/2024

RE: Adult

DEMETRIOS PROTOPAPAS of Limassol, Limassol Cyprus asks...

Hello there,please comment the var decision to ask the referee to consider giving a penalty to Borac for the champions league match PAOK vs Borac on Wednesday July 24.My assessment is that the goalkeeper has the possession of the ball when accidentally the defender touches the ball.I don't think a British referee will ever give such a penalty.Thx

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Demetrios

Thanks for the question.

Its a strange one in that the defender raises his hands to seemingly prevent a collision with his goalkeeper who has come out to collect the ball and the defenders raised arms knocks the ball out of his goalkeeper’s possession.
One can certainly opine that the raised hands are a consequence of, and justifiable by, the player’s body movement for that specific situation.

The highlights do not show what happened to the ball after it is knocked out of the grasp of the goalkeeper. All I saw was the incident plus a caution for a defender after the VAR review and the penalty award. The caution I believe was for dissent.

Now if it had been an attacker that knocked the ball out I would have less difficulty with it being called deliberate handling. The raised arms were justifiable on the basis of protection of both players.

The handling is a highly questionable offence. It probably meets the raised hands contacting the ball criteria yet it was a protection gesture so for me it was harsh.

It highlights for me how far the handling debate has gone with very little common sense being used. Handling has now become the most difficult call to make in the game with great uncertainty.
The recent handling decisions in the Euros highlights the problem that exists and this is further proof of where the handling debate has gone.
Yes the defenders hands were raised and away from the body yet that to me is not the intention of the handling advice of punishing players who make the body bigger with raised arms. There is zero benefit here for handling by a defender.

Finally nationality of the referee should not matter. It should be the same all over the world. Whether the referee is from the UK or in this case from the Netherlands it should not matter.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Demetrios,

I best apologize to the professional referees but in my not so humble opinion it remains a 100% bullcrap call! What defender in their right mind will deliberately knock the ball out of their OWN keeper's hands? The very FACT that a referee is reduced in stature by thinking that REQUIRED a PK to FIX a non existent injustice? Shows how utterly ridiculous the LOTG have allowed themselves to be contorted into a mockery of how the game should not be officiated! First the goal kick awarded, NOW VAR says, wait, his hand contacted the ball, NEVER mind the keepers motion with the ball in his possession took him into the path of his defender who was also trying not to run into the attacker close by!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

sigh the fact we are finding ways to punish players for accidentally handling the ball in such situations is simply ridiculous. This was a collision, jarring the ball free.

IF IF if the defender reacted and used the hands AFTER, to prevent the loose ball from entering the goal, AFTER it was jarred loose is one thing. THAT never occurred!

I was advised I was too harsh on the referee as the VAR and the on field CR came to a similar conclusion. Yet I strongly believe it is ONLY set there by the idiotic policies the LOTG are currently enforcing. The uncertainty principle is being elevated due to the CRs using the secondary VAR reviews to cast doubt on their initial decisions more than confirm them.

The calls are supposed to a neutrally rendered decision no matter which nationality the referee or VARs are! So while each referee to a certain degree is a playing condition, in todays professional game the whole idea is to integrate consistency so the teams are not thinking it is different every time!

The caution to 22, I can only assume it was for dissent. At least I can only hope the defender was not cautioned for the handling collision of which I am strongly in disagreement it was a necessary call. Plus LOOK at the length of time to delay from what SHOULD have been a simple goal kick, NOT A single opponent was crying for a PK. It dragged on & on thereby creating unnecessary cautionable situation. If I was the opposition team I pass the ball to the keeper because I want to earn my victories. Sure you get the odd, good luck/bad luck based on an angle of view and you suffer or take advantage, however, THIS decision was GARBAGE! The fact it took 3 minutes to arrive at such a horrific decision boggles my mind!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=X8ZUB6oixJs

https://streamin.me/v/4fa2e735

https://youtu.be/N1nW-SRrpMo?si=mNVHx4vSBrtz6vBy


Cheers