Paris (AFP)
UEFA has called on FIFA President Gianni Infantino to change the rule on a player's hand in the penalty area in order to end the "growing frustration" created by a series of recent penalties.
The request, in a letter addressed to President Infantino by that of UEFA, Aleksander Ceferin, aims to adjust this new rule, in force since March 2019, in order to allow the referees to judge the intentionality of the player who has touched the ball of the hand.
“The attempt to strictly define when touching the ball with the hand is a foul has resulted in many unfair decisions that have created growing frustration and discomfort within the football community,” Ceferin wrote in this letter sent on 27 October in Infantino.
The content of this letter was sent to AFP by its German subsidiary SID.
It was therefore sent a few days before the penalty awarded to Chelsea on Wednesday night for an involuntary "hand" from Brazilian Dalbert (Rennes), the ball having bounced off his shin before touching his arm.
The Rennes player was then sent off, as he had already caused a penalty kick a few minutes earlier.
Chelsea finally won 3-0, 11 against 10, thanks in particular to the two penalties converted by Timo Werner.
Rennes president Nicolas Holveck was very upset after this defeat and ironically named referee Felix Zwayer "man of the match".
Several similar decisions have been taken recently, which annoyed players and coaches, and they went "against the spirit of the game", according to the letter sent by Ceferin to Infantino.
It is the International Football Association Board (IFAB) which changes the laws of the game. FIFA holds four votes out of eight, the other four votes being the historic property of the English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish Federations.
© 2020 AFP