Question Number: 33797

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 12/8/2019

RE: Adult

Nic of Leeds, West Yorks UK asks...

This question is in relation to the changes to the rules regarding 'handball in the buikd up to a goal' which have come in this season:

What would happen in a secenario whereby the ball hits a defender's arm in the penalty area in a way which is unequivocally accidental, unavoidable and not stopping a goal scoring chance (i.e. ordinarily not a penalty) but a couple of seconds later the defender makes a long clearance which flies the full length of the pitch and straight in to the opposition goal?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi
As it is not deliberate handling then it is not called. The subsequent play would not ordinarily be seen as creating a goal scoring opportunity. So the goal would be awarded.
There are two phrases in the current Laws which states
* Referees are expected to use common sense and to apply the *spirit of the game* when applying the Laws of the Game....*
*The IFAB expects the referee to make a decision within the *spirit* of the game – this often involves asking the question, *what would football want/expect?*
In your scenario it is not deliberate handling and it would not be expected to disallow a goal at one end and restart with a penalty kick at the other based on handling that is not deliberate.
Now the referee will probably have to deal with complaints from the conceding team as to the non award of a penalty based on handling and not on the attacking handling law.
In VAR it states that *
*Defining the point at which the attacking phase (move) starts will be subjective but should include deciding: the point at which the attacking team advanced with the ball towards their opponents penalty area and, if the attacking team has a long period of keep ball possession, the point at which they either cross the half way line (for keep ball in their own half) or, if keep ball is in their opponents half, the point at which a clear forward / attacking phase of play starts*
My thinking would be that while it is technically possible in Law, I doubt any VAR is going to overturn such a goal and restart with a penalty kick at the other end.
Anyway it is not going to happen very often, if at all and then only with certainty of VAR.
I think also that it will probably take an outlier event to tidy up the wording, which does happen from time to time, to exclude say maybe handling in a players own half from being considered as creating a goal scoring opportunity. I could envisage an accidental handling at half way which then starts an attacking phase with say three to four passes which ends up as a goal. That is more likely and does the referee and VAR go back to that knowing that it was not deliberate but it was the point when possession changed but not in an obvious goal scoring position?
Personally I believe that is not the intention behind the Law when it states in its thinking
** Football does not accept a goal being scored by a hand/arm (even if accidental)**
** Football expects a player to be penalised for handball if they gain possession/ control of the ball from their hand/arm and gain a major advantage e.g. score or create a goal-scoring opportunity**

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Nic,
although one COULD make a case for no goal based on the recent wording but then you award a PK because the inadvertent handling inside the PA as a restart for gaining an advantage on the turnover it must be a DFK?

Seems rather ludicrous to think it even conceivable.

My colleague was suggesting within the attacking half but I support an even greater degree of restriction where ONLY in the opposition PA is that accidental BS called as a free kick out.
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Nic,
I suppose technically you could make an argument that this would meet the definition in Law 12 of a player who:

''gains possession/control of the ball after it has touched their hand/arm and then: scores in the opponents' goal''

However I would agree with my colleagues that this is not the scenario that this recent law change is designed to cover. In almost every case I can think of where the kind of incident that led to this amendment has happened, it involved accidental handling by an attacker in the opponent's penalty area with a goal being scored immediately afterwards.

It's maybe (yet another) example of les than ideal wording by the IFAB but I think it's fairly clear that this part of the law is only intended for accidental handling in an attacking context either in or very close to the opponent's penalty area. In terms of its actual real-world application, every single time I have seen this law invoked so far has involved an attacker accidentally handling the ball in the opponent's penalty area.

I also think this is a largely hypothetical scenario that is unlikely to actually occur. We have of course seen goals scored by a goalkeeper punting the ball from their own penalty area but I have never yet seen a goal scored by a defender kicking the ball from inside their own penalty area and so I would say it's not a scenario that we're likely to see any time soon, if at all.