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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says coaches need more clarity on the Premier League handball rule following a series of controversial decisions in the first weeks of the season.
Tottenham Hotspur was denied victory on Sunday after Newcastle United received a penalty in injury time for handball from Eric Dier, who was looking in the opposite direction of the ball when he jumped.
Manchester United defender Victor Lindelof also received a tough penalty decision during their 3-1 loss to Crystal Palace in their first game of the season.
“I think football has changed,” Solskjaer said. “There are no fans, it’s a different game. Preseason we were in different stages, the new handball rule … you never know what’s going to happen.
“You can discuss it all day, but we need some clarity on what is a foul and what is a penalty. Now it seems that you can put the ball in someone’s hand, like what happened to us against Palace, and Victor gave it a criminal.
“Then the header against Tottenham, he has no idea the ball hits him. You see the goal he scored against West Brom at the end of Chelsea, isn’t that handball?
Much of the controversy centers on players’ handballs in which the referee dictates that their arm or hand is an “unnatural position” or enlarges the body. The previous established law was based on the referees judging whether a handball was intentional or not.
“We need to get that clarity. It is a whole spectrum of things that are not normal. There have been so many changes and nuances in the different rules,” Solskjaer added.
Any moves by the Premier League to change the handball law for next season should be submitted to the international law-making body IFAB next month for consideration.
The new law could make players hesitate to use their arms to protect themselves during aerial challenges, former England midfielder Ryan Mason said.
Mason, who suffered a skull fracture after a head butt with Chelsea’s Gary Cahill while playing for Hull City in 2017, said that while there would always be changes to the rules, the handball rule was not an issue in the past. .
“You’re almost asking the defenders not to move naturally. I’m probably quite passionate about it because I lost my career, almost my life, to the fact that someone challenged me in a way that was not correct,” Mason told Sky Sports.
“They didn’t use their arms as a lever. As a child they taught you to jump with your arms and protect yourself and penalties have been given where the arms were in natural positions but the ball hit them from a meter away.
“My fear is the safety of the players. You are going to make the guys challenge without using their arms and almost lead with their heads. That’s not good for the game.”
– Reuters
