The Refereeing Committee has today explained the news in the Laws of the Game and clarified some of the criteria they use to signal infringements and control the game.. Velasco Carballo, president of the CTA, has appeared together with Clos Gómez and Undiano Mallenco in a talk that the hands have focused much of the attention.
Hands
“The only real change is in the accidental hands. Those that are involuntary on the part of a player who immediately scores a goal are disallowed for infraction. The novelty is that if that hand is committed unintentionally by a teammate who scores, it is not penalized “Velasco Carballo explained to the media. It is a standard that has evolved in recent years. Before, any involuntary hand prior to the goal, whether by the scorer or a teammate, was considered an offense. Now only the accidental hand prior to goal is sanctioned only by the scorer and that is immediately just before scoring.
What is hand?
The volunteer that is performed with a gesture or movement towards the ball. The one in an unnatural position. When a player occupies a greater space with his arm / hand running a risk and cuts a pass, shot, etc … Immediate hand to the goal, even if it is accidental (the one mentioned at the beginning of the article), when a forward scores a goal immediately to commit hand even if it is committed accidentally.
What is not hand?
Hands in natural position and the one that is close to or close to the body. The hands supported or on the way to the ground, since they use it as support to maintain balance and should not be stretched looking to cut the ball. Hand after ball played by the player himself. That is, he deliberately plays the ball and hits his own arm / hand. Neither is the hand from a clearance by a teammate punished. Neither goal after accidental and immediate hand of a teammate nor goal after accidental non-immediate hand.
“The hands are a subjective fact and it is only up to the referee to interpret whether it is a natural or unnatural fact. We must accept and respect his decision. If the referee has not judged him well because he has seen it wrongly if we tell the VAR that help the referee to rectify that mistake, “said Velasco Carballo. And he added to settle the debate: “The criteria are perfectly clear and the referees have it perfectly clear. What happens is that they are a subjective fact and it is decided by a person. The hand error within the area was minimal last season.”
Arbitration guidelines
The referees will seek the protection of the players, therefore, they will punish the different fouls in different ways. Reckless tackles carry no penalty, reckless tackles are punishable by a yellow card and serious foul play tackles are red. “They must assess the area of the body with which the player makes the entry, the area in which he hits, intensity, speed, strength and risk of injury,” explained Clos Gómez.
The Committee has insisted on its referees to discipline those who protest refereeing decisions from the benches or a massive protest by players on the field. “They must at least admonish the initiator of this massive protest,” they point out.
Penalties
“All over the world the number of penalties sanctioned has increased and we have also detected that some players are taking advantage of light contacts for the VAR to review”, explains the CTA. “Contacts have to be clear and obvious,” Clos added.