At the beginning of the month I was Guest
Speaker at the South Bedfordshire Referees' Society in Luton.
Before I got up to make my presentation the members of the society discussed an incident which had been highlighted in their society magazine. The situation described was this: the attacking team had kicked the ball forward, over the head of their centre forward who was just inside the penalty area. The goalkeeper rushed out to the edge of the area and caught the ball. However, in trying to avoid a heavy collision with a colleague, his momentum took him outside his area with the ball still in his arms.
What action should the referee take? was the question which led to considerable discussion. Should the goalkeeper be sent
off, cautioned, or neither?
It brought to mind a radio commentary on the Coventry v Stockport match earlier in the season. Jimmy Armfield, former England international full back and now a commentator with the BBC Five Live, voiced his disapproval of the referee's decision in only awarding a free kick for handball. 'If you handle the ball deliberately, it is a yellow card offence. It is quite clear' he added. No Jimmy, it isn't.
What is quite clear and specific, is Law 12 when it comes to sending off for handball. It says 'A player is sent off and shown the red card
if he denies the opposing team a goal or a clear goal-scoring opportunity by deliberately handling the ball. This does not apply to a goalkeeper within his own penalty
area'. It could apply of course if he handles outside when he becomes the same as any other player.
Denying a goal by handball is usually done, however, by a defender when the goalkeeper is beaten. The ball is obviously going to finish in the goal and the
only way he can prevent it, is by using his hands.
When this law was first introduced there were many who thought it was unnecessarily harsh, after all, they said, it is the natural thing to do. The reason it was specifically made a red card offence was simply because people did think like that, including some referees.
The truth of the matter is that football is about scoring goals and players have to be stopped from preventing goals illegally. Without this law in place players would have nothing to loose and perhaps something to gain. Yes. they would give away a penalty but it would have been a goal anyway, and furthermore penalties have been missed. Now the player has plenty to
lose. A sending off, reducing his team for the rest of the match, a suspension and a fine.
Going back to Jimmy Armfield and other types of handball.
The advice from the FA to referees on the application of the laws, say that it is NOT usual for a player to be cautioned for handling the ball. However. it says there are exceptional circumstances when. in addition to imposing the customary penalty, the player must be cautioned for unsporting behaviour. A situation it quotes, is when a player uses his hands to cut out a pass by an opponent to a team mate. In other words, when additional penalty is needed because the player was quite happy to break up the opponents' move, even at the expense of a free kick.
In the case discussed at Luton, I agreed with the majority of their members on the evidence we had. The goalkeeper did not deny a goal or a clear goal-scoring opportunity by straying outside his area, so should not have been sent off. In fact I would not have even cautioned him. Whilst his hand ball couldn't be classed as accidental, it was not calculated. He wasn't in my opinion unsporting, just unfortunate.
Dick Sawdon Smith