IFAB to look again at handball law next month

Football’s rule-making body IFAB will look again at the handball law at its annual general meeting on March 5.

The move is a response to inconsistencies in the application of the handball law. - REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE

Football’s rule-making body IFAB will look again at the handball law at its annual general meeting on March 5, the Zurich based organisation said on Friday. The agenda for the meeting, which has the power to change the laws of the game, features Law 12, specifically handball, in the section for proposed changes and clarifications.

While the wording of any change has yet to be agreed, the move is a response to inconsistencies in the application of the law which was changed in the past two seasons.

After its meeting in December, IFAB said: “Given that the interpretation of handball incidents has not always been consistent, the members agreed that further clarification should be considered at the Annual General Meeting (AGM).

“It was agreed that not every touch of a player’s hand/arm with the ball is an offence. In terms of “unnaturally bigger,” referees should judge the position of the hand/arm in relation to the player’s movement in that phase of play,” it added.

The current law has been criticised by some commentators and pundits for being too strict and for leading referees to award penalties for too many cases of unintentional handball.