Handling the ball to stop a promising attack. How do you deal with that as a referee? In this case study you’ll get a full explanation on how to handle as referee.
How would you handle in the situation above? Because the laws about deliberate handballs inside the penalty area changed a little bit, this is a good moment to explain them. The first question that we have to answer is: does the player make an handball offence? And if yes: what kind of offence is it? In this case the defender does touch the ball with his hands, have a good look at that number 3. But which type of handball offence are we talking about? Deliberately touches the ball with their hand/arm Making your body unnaturally bigger while touching the ball with your hand or arm Scoringin the opponent’s goal In this case the player slams the ball away with his hand in front of the defender. He moves his arm to wards the ball. That means we are talking about a “deliberate handball”. What does the law say on handling the ball? Laws of the Game changes are crucial in this case. In previous seasons, handball situations were not considered challenges for the ball. Similar like pushing and pulling. For DOGSO-situations in the penalty area a push, pull or handball resulted in both a penalty kick and a red card. In the penalty area stopping a promising attack for similar actions resulted in a yellow card. But that has changed for handballs. There is a difference now between the deliberate handball and situations where a player makes himself bigger. The latter are non-deliberate handballs and are equeated with a challenge for the ball. The law now says on page 111 under “Cautions for unsporting behaviour”: “There are different circumstances when a player must be cautioned for unsporting behaviour, including if a player: handles the ball to interfere with or stop a promising attack, except where the referee awards a penalty kick for a non-deliberate handball offence.” Result: In the situation (clip) above we have a player stopping a promising attack by a deliberate handball. That results in a penalty kick and a yellow card. Deliberate handball and DOGSO Before I give some examples of non-deliberate handball in the penalty area, I would like to share a clear example of denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity (DOGSO). You might remember Luis Suarez with Uruguay versus Ghana in the World Cup. Yes, him slamming the ball away just in front of the goal-line. This is a clear example of a player making a deliberate handball by moving his arm towards the ball. Because he denied the African team a clear goal this way, he should still be sent off under the new laws of the game.
Handballs in pen area with no card In the penalty area there are also some situations where a player makes his body unnaturally bigger, which are different than the obvious deliberate handballs. In a case where a player shoots the ball in the direction of the opponent’s goal, defenders often try to block the shots. A player often turns the hands on the side of the body, which creates a bigger surface to block the shot. In such cases inside the penalty area, you need to award the penalty kick, but there’s no disciplinairy action. In the situation below the player blocks a shot on goal. As a referee you award a penalty kick, but no yellow card.
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