Skip to main content

Featured post

Dzeko headlines Bosnia's World Cup squad

  Bosnia-Herzegovina have become the first team to announce their squad for the World Cup, with 40-year-old Edin Dzeko leading the team this summer.

Neves handball: IFAB rules say accidental handballs from teammates are not a foul

 In the second leg of the Champions League semi-final between Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain at Bayern Munich's home stadium, a decision by the main referee, João Pinheiro, caused controversy.

In the 31st minute of the first half, a clearance by Vitinha hit João Neves' arm in the penalty area. The Bayern Munich players all indicated that a penalty should be awarded, but  João Pinheiro remained unmoved and the game continued.

Regarding this situation, the IFAB Laws of the Game have the following relevant articles:

A player does not commit a handball offense when:

The ball is accidentally touched by a teammate's hand/arm (unless the ball goes directly into the opponent's goal, or the player immediately scores, in which case a direct free kick will be awarded to the opponent).

It can be seen that this rule does not emphasize whether a clearance that hits a teammate's arm should be judged as a handball, which creates room for controversy in this penalty.

Comments