Was Chelsea's penalty at Crystal Palace a VAR error?

"It was a strange weekend for referee Darren England. On Saturday, Farai Hallam, in charge of his first Premier League game, rejected England's advice as the video assistant referee (VAR) and did not award a penalty to Manchester City for handball. On Sunday, England's role was reversed in Chelsea's 3-1 win at Crystal Palace. This time he was the referee sent to the pitchside monitor to decide on a potential handball spot-kick."

"The International Football Association Board (Ifab) has previously clarified that, in this kind of scenario, it is not automatically a penalty. On its Football Rules website, external, it asks the question: "A player prevents the ball from going into their own goal with their hand/arm but does not deliberately handle the ball and does not make their body unnaturally bigger?" The answer is: "This is not a handball.""

"Much of the confusion surrounds a law change in 2024. Ifab modified the wording on denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity (Dogso). It now reads: "Where a player denies the opposing team a goal or an obvious goalscoring opportunity by committing a non-deliberate handball offence and the referee awards a penalty kick, the offender is cautioned." And here is the key point. It has to be an "offence" - in other words making the body unnaturally bigger. It has incorrectly been interpreted that all handballs which stop a goal are a penalty and a yellow card."

Referee Darren England experienced contrasting VAR interventions across consecutive Premier League matches, with Farai Hallam rejecting his VAR advice on Saturday and England reviewing a potential penalty on Sunday. Palace defender Jaydee Canvot blocked Joao Pedro's goal-bound shot with his arm seemingly in a natural position, prompting England to watch replays for almost two minutes before awarding a penalty after persuasion from VAR Matt Donohue. Ifab guidance states a non-deliberate handball that does not make the body unnaturally bigger is not a handball. The 2024 DOGSO wording cautions non-deliberate handball offenders only if an "offence" is made, causing widespread misinterpretation that all such incidents automatically merit a penalty and yellow card.

Read at www.bbc.com