Saturday, March 2 is the day of the IFAB AGM, which is when we learn what, if any, changes to the Laws of the Game, come into force next season.
If you only watch the Premier League, you might quote VAR as in need of improvement, but those of us at lower levels might like to see some clarification of handball. These days whenever the ball hits a hand or arm, everyone shouts ‘Handball’.
I am not suggesting anything new but would like to see some of the old wording recalled. First, two rulings on handball which were previously mentioned in the Laws.
They still appear in Football Rules, the book aimed at players and coaches, which IFAB introduced to simplify the Laws of the Game.
These say ‘It is not an offence when a player is falling and the ball hits their supporting arm, which is between their body and the ground’, and the other is if, ‘A player heads or kicks the ball, and it then hits their own hand/arm’.
I checked with the IFAB, and they told me that these were still relevant. You might think that everyone knew that anyway, but I have seen a Premier League referee award a penalty when the ball ricocheted from a player’s chest to his arm.
Also, the VAR in an Australian video, recommended handball when the ball hit the player’s arm as he fell. The referee ignored him.
There is one in the Football Rules that I haven’t seen before and that is, ‘A player hit on the hand/arm by the ball from a teammate, is not handball’. Let’s have that in the Laws as well. These are all covered by the Law which says a goal cannot be scored from accidental handball.
Another clause from earlier Laws I would like to see is, ‘It is not an offence if the ball touches a player’s hand /arm directly from the head or body (including the foot) of another player who is close’.
In training, I put six trainees in a line and then kicked a ball at them from about six yards.
To be clear, I’ve never used a football but a plastic beach ball, but the reaction was the same. Everybody flinched. When kicked at from that range, people think about protecting themselves, not about handling the ball or making their body bigger.
I believe. both handball and making the body bigger, should be deliberate to be an offence.
I rest my case, but I don’t expect to see any of them appearing on March 2.
By Dick Sawdon Smith
