European Football Board asks UEFA to issue new handball guidelines

A group of top European coaches and former players, including England manager Gareth Southgate, have called on UEFA to issue new handball guidelines.

The interpretation of handball law remains one of the game’s most contentious areas, but the new UEFA Football Committee, which met for the first time this week, has issued recommendations for next season.

The board, which includes Southgate plus former England defender Rio Ferdinand, former Wales striker Gareth Bale and former Republic of Ireland striker Robbie Keane, said UEFA guidelines must clarify “that no handball offense shall be applied to a player if the ball was previously deflected from his own body and, in particular, when the ball does not go towards the goal”.

PA news agency understands that an exception to this would be if a player scores immediately after such hand or arm contact, where the law makes it clear that any contact – whether deliberate or not – must be penalised.

UEFA cannot change the law, but it can instruct referees in its competitions to interpret it differently.

The Football Board also said that not all handball following a shot on goal should result in a caution and urged UEFA to launch an initiative with the game’s governing body, the International Football Association Board (IFAB) to ensure that a player is only sent off for a handball that denies a scoring opportunity if they deliberately or intentionally touch the ball with their hand or arm. Otherwise, a yellow card must be issued, the council said.

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said earlier this month that he “absolutely does not understand” handball law.

“What is clear is that current handball law is really murky. No one else understands this,” he told Slovenian newspaper Ekipe SN.

“So we really need a conversation here, finding solutions and clarifying some issues.”

UEFA technical director and head of football, former AC Milan midfielder Zvonimir Boban, chaired the Football Board meeting and said: “The handball rule will always be contested, but we can make it more consistent and aligned with the true nature of the game.”

Handball law states that it is an offense if a player deliberately touches the ball with his hand or arm, for example by moving his hand or arm towards the ball.

It is also an offense when the ball hits the hand or arm when it is considered that a player has made his body abnormally larger, when the position of his hand or arm is not a consequence of or justifiable by the movement of the player’s body for that specific situation.

Former Premier League referee Peter Walton has called on the IFAB to ensure a consistent interpretation of handball law across all competitions, following controversy surrounding a recent Liverpool goal at Leeds where the ball hit Trent Alexander-Arnold on the forearm in preparation.

“The confusion comes from different interpretations of the same law,” Walton wrote in The Times.

“In the Champions League you can see an identical situation to Liverpool, but handball will be given. This is because UEFA’s interpretation is stricter than that of the Premier League.

“The IFAB needs to bring all these competitions together – because there is an intersection now – and align them in their interpretations. That way fans, players and officials would know what to expect – because they don’t at the moment.

“We don’t need to change the wording of the law. It’s been modified and scaled down over the last few years, so the details aren’t the issue. Just like the offside rule of a few years ago, you just need to draw a line in the sand and make it work. What is needed then is a consistent approach to competition.

“You see defenders with their arms behind their backs, but that shouldn’t be necessary – it’s an unnatural position. The natural position is to have your arms at your sides; if the ball hits one of them over there, fine. This is not handball.”

A group of top European coaches and former players, including England manager Gareth Southgate, have called on UEFA to issue new handball guidelines.

The interpretation of handball law remains one of the game’s most contentious areas, but the new UEFA Football Committee, which met for the first time this week, has issued recommendations for next season.

The board, which includes Southgate plus former England defender Rio Ferdinand, former Wales striker Gareth Bale and former Republic of Ireland striker Robbie Keane, said UEFA guidelines must clarify “that no handball offense shall be applied to a player if the ball was previously deflected from his own body and, in particular, when the ball does not go towards the goal”.

PA news agency understands that an exception to this would be if a player scores immediately after such hand or arm contact, where the law makes it clear that any contact – whether deliberate or not – must be penalised.

UEFA cannot change the law, but it can instruct referees in its competitions to interpret it differently.

The Football Board also said that not all handball following a shot on goal should result in a caution and urged UEFA to launch an initiative with the game’s governing body, the International Football Association Board (IFAB) to ensure that a player is only sent off for a handball that denies a scoring opportunity if they deliberately or intentionally touch the ball with their hand or arm. Otherwise, a yellow card must be issued, the council said.

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said earlier this month that he “absolutely does not understand” handball law.

“What is clear is that current handball law is really murky. No one else understands this,” he told Slovenian newspaper Ekipe SN.

“So we really need a conversation here, finding solutions and clarifying some issues.”

UEFA technical director and head of football, former AC Milan midfielder Zvonimir Boban, chaired the Football Board meeting and said: “The handball rule will always be contested, but we can make it more consistent and aligned with the true nature of the game.”

Handball law states that it is an offense if a player deliberately touches the ball with his hand or arm, for example by moving his hand or arm towards the ball.

It is also an offense when the ball hits the hand or arm when it is considered that a player has made his body abnormally larger, when the position of his hand or arm is not a consequence of or justifiable by the movement of the player’s body for that specific situation.

Former Premier League referee Peter Walton has called on the IFAB to ensure a consistent interpretation of handball law across all competitions, following controversy surrounding a recent Liverpool goal at Leeds where the ball hit Trent Alexander-Arnold on the forearm in preparation.

“The confusion comes from different interpretations of the same law,” Walton wrote in The Times.

“In the Champions League you can see an identical situation to Liverpool, but handball will be given. This is because UEFA’s interpretation is stricter than that of the Premier League.

“The IFAB needs to bring all these competitions together – because there is an intersection now – and align them in their interpretations. That way fans, players and officials would know what to expect – because they don’t at the moment.

“We don’t need to change the wording of the law. It’s been modified and scaled down over the last few years, so the details aren’t the issue. Just like the offside rule of a few years ago, you just need to draw a line in the sand and make it work. What is needed then is a consistent approach to competition.

“You see defenders with their arms behind their backs, but that shouldn’t be necessary – it’s an unnatural position. The natural position is to have your arms at your sides; if the ball hits one of them over there, fine. This is not handball.”