When people say things like this I wonder whether they've ever played football. It is not possible to avoid having your arms struck by the ball. This rule would simply result in players booting the ball at defenders to get penalties.
FIFA World Cup 2018 - GROUP D [Argentina, Iceland, Croatia, Nigeria - 16/21/22/26 June] **spoilers**
- Thread starter Cosimo
- Start date
When people say things like this I wonder whether they've ever played football. It is not possible to avoid having your arms struck by the ball. This rule would simply result in players booting the ball at defenders to get penalties.
Agreed.
Caporegime
- Joined
- 18 Oct 2002
- Posts
- 37,804
- Location
- block 16, cell 12
Why didn't the Nigerian player with a free shot at goal just score? Or hit the taeget
It’s enough for the ball to hit your arm when it’s not by your side these days if you gain an advantage from it.
The idea that it has to be deliberate went out the door years ago even though by the letter of the law that’s what it says.
I agree. I suppose you could argue the ref allowed the advantage.
It comes down to interperatation again which is the main reason why VAR is not really suited to football and why people are still arguing with VAR decisions.
I don't know why they don't just have zero tolerance to handball, if defenders have to be more careful about where their arms are there's likely to be more goals. I don't agree with the ball to arm argument at all if the defender is blocking a shot on target or key cross.
Last edited:
So no different to attackers running into defenders and getting penalties then? At least we'd have a consistent rule rather than have the penalty given against Portugal and then the one last night not given. Both the handball and offside rules are a complete mess and we're getting hugely inconsistent decisions as a result.
This isn't quite right. It still has to be deliberate however the way refs interpret what is and isn't deliberate was tweaked. Before the defender would have had to move his arm towards the ball for it to be considered deliberate however this didn't stop defenders blocking shots with their arms outstretched and getting away with it as they didn't move their arms towards the ball after it was struck. This brought about the whole unnatural position thing but it still has to be deliberate - in other words, the ref has to decide that the defender has put their arms in an unnatural position with the intent of gaining an advantage. That clearly wasn't the case yesterday.
Offside rule? What's wrong with offside? There are odd cases it's misadjudicated but it's a clear rule.
Handball is a mess, I agree, but penalising all contact is not a sensible or reasonable alternative.
Determining whether a player is or isn't active and what is and isn't classed as a deliberate attempt to play the ball by a defender. You only had to look back at the Liverpool - Spurs game from Anfield where there were at least half a dozen refs or ex refs that commented on the incident and there was a complete split down the middle as to whether it was or wasn't offside. If actual officials can't agree then that tells you the rule isn't clear.
I Just saw a news article on Diego Maradona needing medical attention after the Argentina/Nigeria game (linked below for anyone interested) and it dawned on me, if they had had VAR in the 1980's then not only would Maradona have never won a world cup but he would be hated by his countries fans for getting them eliminated, it really puts into perspective how groundbreaking/useful the technology is (as if it correcting that offside yesterday didn't).
https://www.givemesport.com/1341832...al&utm_campaign=Tribute-Pages-laika-III-1sted
https://www.givemesport.com/1341832...al&utm_campaign=Tribute-Pages-laika-III-1sted
Beyond his football achievements Maradona is a complete **** and a shining example of a crap human being who has been indulged for far too long simply because of a few years of fame. Other countries seem far happier to completely dissociate star sportsmen from their behaviour than we are. He genuinely an embarrassment to the game and the fact that he is still held in such high regard is a joke.
