THE handball rule is set to be ripped up again – after even Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin said he “absolutely doesn’t understand it”.
Debates about what is or is not an offence have plagued the season as players, managers and fans have shown their disbelief at decisions.
Last weekend, Brentford’s Aaron Hickey was penalised for one offence but escaped a potential second penalty, both in stoppage time, in the 3-3 draw at Brighton.
Arsenal players have incurred two fines for protests about penalty claims against Oxford and Newcastle, while PGMOL chiefs admitted Chelsea SHOULD have been awarded a spot-kick in the last minutes of their draw at West Ham.
And now Ceferin has revealed Uefa has demanded talks with Fifa and the Law-making International FA Board in an attempt to sort out the issues.
Ceferin said: “I absolutely do not understand the Law as it stands – and something must be done.
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“At the end of this month we will form a special group, which will be led by out Head of football, Zvonimir Boban.
“We want to have all the greatest coaches and former football players, the biggest names in world football, in it.
“What’s clear is that the current handball law is really obscure. No one understands it any more.
“So we really need a conversation here, finding solutions and clarifying some issues.
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“The Laws say that a player should be penalised by making himself bigger – but what should they do?
“How can you make yourself smaller if you fall to the ground or if you jump in the air – the hands are where they are, you can’t always press them to the body.”
Ceferin revealed he had pushed the issue with Fifa counterpart Gianni Infantino.
He added: “We all need to do something about this together.
“What we have now is very bad for football, which is supposed to be a game which is very understandable and clear to everyone.
“When it comes to offsides, we can debate whether VAR should consider a tolerance area and not intervene at every millimetre.
“But even as it is, things are clear and nobody can argue with you.
“Yet handball decisions are strange and it is difficult for the referees to make decisions.
“If someone boots the ball at you from two metres, what can you do?
“I saw a game when the ball hit the defender’s thigh, then his hand, and the referee awarded a penalty.
“How a player could prevent this is really beyond me.
“We are having a very serious conversation about this, and we are increasingly coming to the conclusion that – once again – no one currently understands the Law.
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“So we have to find solutions and find a way using football intelligence or logic to make sure the referees don’t look for an alibi in VAR and then award every contact with the hand just to protect themselves.
“This is a big problem and we have to solve it wisely.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
