After several seasons of controversy over the handball rule, the Premier League will see a new change come into effect.
The law has been changed in order to ensure the attacker is not penalised in the build-up to a goal.
Football lawmakers, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), have announced that the new law will come into effect universally from 1 July.
However, fans have been able to catch a small glimpse of it at this summer’s Euro 2020 as the tournament decided to adapt the new laws of the game prior to its official introduction.
The previous law had caused major controversy, most notably back in November during Manchester City’s defeat to Tottenham when Gabriel Jesus accidentally handled the ball in the lead up to Aymeric Laporte ’s disallowed goal.
Its critics will likely welcome the change, as the new rule will eliminate accidental handballs from being harshly penalised. Now the lawmakers have designed handball with intent as a punishable offence.
“The way the law has been rewritten is more according to the spirit of football and gives players the freedom to play football," UEFA’s Roberto Rosetti told the press in an announcement.
The new rule book will now define handball as follows:
- deliberately touching the ball with the hand/arm, for example moving the hand/arm towards the ball;
- touching the ball with their hand/arm when it has made their body unnaturally bigger. A player is considered to have made their body unnaturally bigger when the position of their hand/arm is not a consequence of, or justifiable by, the player's body movement for that specific situation. By having their hand/arm in such a position, the player takes a risk of their hand/arm being hit by the ball and being penalised; or
- scoring in the opponents' goal:
- directly from their hand/arm, even if accidental, including by the goalkeeper; or
- immediately after the ball has touched their hand/arm, even if accidental.
