Having less than a second to make a call on "Handball!"

Game 24, 2018-19

It's 0-2 with half time approaching, but the home team is on the attack. Their central midfielder takes a shot from around five yards outside the penalty area. It strikes the away team's central defender on the arm, which is in front of his body in a defensive, self-protective position. The defender is standing just inside the penalty area. The home team and all their followers scream "Handball!"

Model sportsman Franck Ribéry
 has spotted an infringement 

This is a direct result of the professional game's Video Assistant Referee. Of course, there have always been loud and righteous cries for 'Handball!' whenever the ball strikes a player's arm or hand, no matter from what distance or in what part of the field. But the calls have become markedly louder and more urgent in the past couple of years since VAR entered our lives. That's because slow-motion replays, examined several times with forensic keenness, have lead to many more decisions in favour of the attacking side. Many of these calls have been dubious at best, typified by Manchester United's spot-kick in the final minute of their Champions league last-16 game at Paris St. Germain, plus numerous bizarre VAR penalty awards for handball in the Bundesliga.

If I'd had video assistants connected to an earpiece, there's a good chance they would have advised me to look at the incident again. But there's no screen on the touchline out here in the woods, so I do what I almost always do in these instances - I shout, "No intent! Play on!" There's a bubble of iincensed dismay at this, but in the meantime the ball's been deflected out to the right side of the penalty area. A home forward controls it, cuts inside his full-back, and unleashes a nice left-footed shot into the far corner of the goal. 1-2. The protests have long since dissolved, and no one mentions the 'handball' incident again. 

"I didn't give a penalty because I knew you'd pick up the rebound and score," I say to the forward. "That was definitely the right decision," he replies. Though in fact he saved my ass. 

A mostly useless
 guide for
grassroots refs

Was it a penalty? Possibly. Possibly not. This is the enduring problem of the handball law - no one really knows. My feeling was that the defender not only didn't have time to get out of the ball's path, but that he also hadn't moved his arm deliberately towards the ball. If it hadn't hit his arm, the ball would have hit his chest - that is, it certainly wouldn't have been a goal. I can't be certain, though. I'd need to see it again, five times in slow motion, to be absolutely sure. And even then, I probably wouldn't be 100% behind whatever call I made, and I'd be less certain still if I re-read Fifa's ambiguous, confusing and ultimately fucking useless Laws and Guidelines on handball.

Was there "intent"? Did the defender move his body in a way that was designed to lessen the opposition's chances of scoring a goal? Weighing these factors up in a split second is the referee's job. Everyone else's job is to accept the decision I make and get on with the game. That only happened in this instance because the forward was skilful enough to take advantage of the loose ball.

Hurrah, it's sporting behaviour!

On the whole, though, it's a really enjoyable afternoon. I'm almost surprised to see at the end of the game that I dished out seven yellow cards - mostly for fouls, plus a couple for unsporting behaviour from a shoving match and a blatant attempt at time-wasting. Best of all, with the exception of those three seconds when everyone was wailing for a penalty, nobody moaned at me. I'd appealed to the players before the game not to, but then I nearly always do that and it doesn't make much difference. My jocular exchange with the goalscorer was typical - there was a fair bit of laughter, and plenty of smiles and players helping opponents back to their feet after fouls. 

So, some positive news - it's definitely still possible for grown men to enjoy a game of football, despite the handball Law.

Final score: 1-3 (7 x yellow)

Want to read more? Click here to order Reffing Hell: Stuck In The Middle Of A Game Gone Wrong by Ian Plenderleith (Halcyon Publishing), published on August 8, 2022.