The Paper Journalist Qi Dong

  In the Premier League Fulham match against Tottenham on March 4, there was a controversial scene: in the 61st minute, Maya scored an equalizer, but after VAR intervened, it was discovered that the Tottenham player kicked the ball first when clearing the siege. On Maya’s teammate Lemina’s arm, Maya scored the goal, and the goal was invalidated by handball.

  Now this kind of handball controversy will end because of the latest adjustments to the rules of the football game.

On March 5th, Swiss time, the International Football Association Council, which is responsible for the rule-making of football matches, announced that they have made adjustments to the rules concerning handball fouls-not all handballs will be considered fouls in the future.

  The IFAB held its 135th Annual General Meeting through a video conference on the same day. The clarification and adjustment of handball fouls is an important part of it.

IFAB stated that in view of the improper implementation of the rules and the inconsistent handball penalties, they need to emphasize that not all balls that touch a player’s hand or arm are considered fouls, “causing a teammate to score a goal or get a chance to score. Unintentional handball will no longer be considered a foul."

  Of course, a player's intentional handball, hand or arm touching the ball unnaturally enlarged body is still considered a foul.

In addition, if a goal is scored directly with the hand or arm, or the ball hits the player's hand or arm and immediately enters the net, whether it is intentional or not, it is considered a foul.

When it comes to the judgment of "unnatural expansion of the body", IFAB emphasizes that the referees still have to play their decisive role according to the specific conditions on the field.

  In other words, the following three situations should be penalized for handballs——

  1. The player intentionally touches the ball with his hand or arm, such as moving his hand or arm to the ball;

  2. When players expand unnaturally, touch the ball with their hands or arms.

When the position of the athlete's hand or arm is not the result of the athlete's body movement under certain circumstances, the athlete is regarded as making his body unnaturally enlarged.

When the hand or arm is in this position, the player is at risk of being punished for being hit by the ball.

  3. Scoring a goal: A goal is scored through the player's hand or arm, even if it is accidental, including the goalkeeper; the ball is scored immediately after the ball touches the player's hand or arm, even if it is accidental.

  Such new rules seem to encourage offense, but there are still many fuzzy areas. That is to say, the only thing that is clear is that the player's accidental handball indirectly helps teammates score or create a goal, and it will no longer be considered a foul.

  IFAB stated that in order to give players, coaches and referees more time to digest and understand the adjustment of the rules, they postponed the start of the new rules from June 1 to July 1. However, each event has the right to choose to start implementing the new rules in advance.