Never a penalty for me, where is his arm supposed to be? Far too close and no hand to ball movement. Poor decision for me.
Wigan v West Ham
- Thread starter Sheffields Finest
- Start date
A really hard decision but I actually think he's got the right one - West Ham player edges his shoulder down just as the ball is coming in, there's a clear shift in the arm's movement as the ball comes, even though his arms are close by his body. I think this is a really good call by the ref
I agree with a lot of your posts but not this time. I see a player trying his best not to handle, personally. There certainly does not seem to me to be a deliberate act of handling the ball.
I dont think the referee made the decision, I think it has come from the assistant referee.
Entirely fair enough! I see it the reverse, am usually very wary about giving a handball when his hands are so close to his body but for me I think the shoulder comes down to block the ball, there’s a shift that makes it look unnatural which would make me err on the side of penalty. But can definitely see how the opposite case could be argued!
Interesting point regarding the AR, seems to give it pretty quickly though?
Peter Grove
RefChat Addict
For me, that's never a penalty. The ball is hit from too close, at too high of a speed, straight at the player's upper arm. I feel that if a player has the time and opportunity to avoid the ball hitting the arm but chooses not to, that makes it deliberate handling. However the opposite is also true, as far as I'm concerned. Short of detaching his arm from his body, I don't see any way for the defender to avoid the ball hitting him where it did. I also don't see any movement of the arm towards the ball.
The three main factors given in the law, that the referee must consider in deciding whether a specific action was the "deliberate act of a player making contact with the ball with the hand or arm" are:
The three main factors given in the law, that the referee must consider in deciding whether a specific action was the "deliberate act of a player making contact with the ball with the hand or arm" are:
For me, it fails on all three of these, to meet the criteria for deliberate handling.
Agree with that Peter, there is no way on this planet I’m giving that. Surely when the law makers were thinking about wording they would never invaded this been given as deliberate!