"I just hate the handball rule. They have messed it up. It is so messed up in every single way, there is 'deliberate', 'proximity', 'natural', 'unnatural' - there are so many different ways they have to interpret things and it isn't fit for purpose."
"There is a misconception that the handball law was changed for VAR, but it happened the other way around. The International Football Association Board (Ifab) started work on redefining handball in 2014 - two years before trials of VAR began. Those changes created a menu of justifications for handball."
Modern football has become increasingly complicated for supporters to understand, primarily due to evolving rule interpretations and technology. The handball law has undergone numerous changes, creating confusion with multiple interpretive criteria including deliberate, proximity, natural, and unnatural considerations. An additional contradiction exists with accidental attacking handball automatically disallowing goals while defenders face no equivalent penalty. The offside law and VAR implementation further complicate the sport. While the Premier League awards fewer handball penalties than other major European leagues, this does not resolve the fundamental issue of inconsistent rule application. The handball law changes preceded VAR's introduction, but VAR's implementation made applying these complex rules easier, contributing to ongoing confusion among fans and commentators alike.
Read at www.bbc.com
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