Bundesliga anger over handball rule
“This is arbitrary. We’re destroying football.”
Status: 21.09.2023 | Reading time: 4 minutes
Niko Kovac expressly defends the referees in the debate: “They just have to implement what they are told”
Source: dpa/Swen Pförtner
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When is there a penalty for handball – and when is it not? This question makes Wolfsburg coach Niko Kovac angry. He finds clear words for the new rules in football and sarcastically recommends a new training focus.
Coach Niko Kovac from VfL Wolfsburg called for a return to the old handball rule in football before the Bundesliga game at Borussia Dortmund. “Back to the roots, back to the origins – that’s best. “Everyone knew what was going on,” said Kovac on Thursday at the press conference for the game (Saturday, 3:30 p.m., in the WELT sports ticker). A handball should only be whistled “if a clear intention is assumed”.
The reason for his statements is a much-criticized hand penalty that was imposed on Tuesday in the Champions League game in Paris (0-2) against Wolfsburg’s next opponent, Dortmund. The new handball rule is “a disaster,” said Kovac. “It has no hand, it no longer has a foot. This is arbitrary.”
Since the handball rule also involves factors such as the increase in body surface area, “you can’t commit to anything. It’s vabanque, like rolling dice. Today like this, tomorrow like this. “One whistles like that, the other doesn’t whistle at all,” criticized the VfL coach. “I don’t understand the handball rule any more than anyone else. I have to keep asking the fourth official. I don’t understand it either and I’m always learning new things.”
The 51-year-old added sarcastically to his criticism: “In the meantime you have to train so that you can play into the player’s hand. Then you can hope that someone is sitting in the basement and says: “You, you, you – someone had their hand on it.” And then you get the penalty. You no longer have to hit your teammate in the middle or aim for the goal. “Aim for the hand.” But “that can’t be the case,” said Kovac. “We are destroying football!”
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In the debate, however, the Wolfsburg coach expressly defended the referees in the Bundesliga or in international competition. “The problem is not the referees. They just have to implement what is given to them,” he said. “These are the ones who suffer too.”
When is it a handball?
Not every touch of the ball by a player with his hand or arm is considered a handball in football. According to the official DFB rules, the border between the shoulder and the (rested) arm runs at the bottom of the armpit.
Accordingly, an offense due to handball occurs in the following cases:
A player intentionally touches the ball with his hand or arm (for example, by moving his hand or arm towards the ball). A player touches the ball with his hand or arm and “enlarges” his body in an unnatural way due to the position of the hand or arm. This unnatural enlargement of the body occurs when the hand or arm position is neither the result of a body movement by the player the respective situation can still be justified with this body movement. With the position of the hand or arm, the player runs the risk that the ball will jump to his hand or arm and he will be penalized for it. A player sends the ball directly into the opponent’s goal with his hand or arm. It is irrelevant whether the handball is intentional or unintentional.
When is it not a handball?
If the ball bounces off a player’s head, foot or the rest of his body and hits the arm or hand of the same player or a nearby player, it is not considered handball. Contact of the ball with the shoulder is not considered a handball. If the arm or hand was close to the body when the ball came into contact and the body was not made unnaturally larger, there was also no handball violation. If a player touches the ball with his hand or arm after a fall, this action is rarely considered a handball unless the player extends his arms or hands laterally or vertically away from his body during the fall. Since the 2021/2022 season, unintentional handball while assisting a goal is no longer considered a punishable handball.
A handball is punished by the referee
Referees can give players a yellow card for handball violations. According to the DFB rules, the handball is considered “unsporting behavior”. A yellow card threatens a player if he commits a handball in order to score a goal, regardless of whether he is successful or not. Players who unsuccessfully attempt to prevent a goal through handball should also be cautioned. A red card is threatened for this “handball offense that is worthy of being sent off”: preventing a goal or thwarting a clear goal-scoring opportunity for the opponent through handball (with the exception of the goalkeeper in his own penalty area). This is independent of the location of the offense.
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