Handballs
Posted by Administrator (admin) on Jan 16 2009 at 11:06 AM
Blog >>

If there's one thing I hear in every game, it's players and spectators pointing out what they think are "handballs."  In Law 12, Fouls and Misconduct, one of the fouls that results in a Direct Free Kick is handling the ball intentionally, which is often abbreviated by the phrase, "handball." This is the only direct free kick foul that doesn't involve an opponent. In a couple of recent games, I observed two instances of players not intentionally touching the ball with their hands, and remember, in soccer the "hand" starts at the shoulder joint, so basically, the arm is the "hand." In one instance the referee penalized the player, awarding a penalty kick to the opposing team because the foul happened in the player's penalty area. There had been a shot on goal, the ball was deflected and bounced up from the ground and hit the player on the bottom of his elbow. Does this meet the criteria for a handball? Probably not.  Did the player have time to move his arm out of the way? Not in my opinion. Another criteria we use is, did the hand hit the ball or ball hit the hand?  In this case, the ball obviously hit the player, not the reverse.  And what player would use the bottom of his elbow to play the ball?  We have to use common sense in developing foul recognition.
The second instance happened in an adult game where in tight challenges for the ball, the ball popped up and hit a player's hand. The referee did not stop play and award a direct free kick to the opposing team, despite their protests.  When "not intentional" was voiced by the referee, the players responded, "sometimes handballs aren't intentional."  Well that kind of smacks up against what the laws says.  Handles the ball intentionally. Just something to think about next time you're watching a game and you hear "handball."