Howard Webb explains new Premier League rule after talks with 20 top-flight clubs
This season in the Premier League, the handball law has been tweaked so that fewer penalties are awarded if an incident is not deliberate or if the player's arm is close to the body
by Oli Gamp · The MirrorReferees' chief Howard Webb has explained why there has not been a single penalty for handball in the Premier League this season - saying officials have become more lenient after clubs complained that too many players were being penalised.
In the 2023-24 Premier League season, 108 penalties were given but many clubs protested that spot kicks given for handballs were often too harsh, especially when players' arms were in natural positions.
This season the handball law has been tweaked so that fewer penalties are awarded if a handball incident is not deliberate or if the player's arm is close to the body.
Other changes have seen officials decide to give a yellow card to players who have denied a goalscoring opportunity through handball - as long as it is not deliberate.
Now Webb - who heads up the referee's PGMOL organisation - has clarified changes to the handball rule, saying the decision was taken to
Speaking on Match Officials Mic'd Up, he said: "We consulted with lots of stakeholders in the game during the latter part of last season and the message we were being given is that there's clearly too many handball penalties being given in the English game in the Premier League for situations where players are playing fairly normally and naturally [where] we know players' arms move.
"So we said to the officials [to] look out for those situations where a player either deliberately handles the ball or has an arm that's well away from the body.
"We've seen situation where the balls hit the arm in the penalty area this season, but the referees applied what we asked them to do and they've stepped away in terms of handball unless it's deliberate or very clearly unjustifiable."
Another change that has come into the Premier League this season is is lessening the amount of VAR interventions unless the on-call decision from the referee is clearly wrong. Communication has also been improved, with goals that have been disallowed set to be shown on big screens in stadiums.
There has been controversy over VAR already this season, with Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes shown a red card against Tottenham. Officials at Stockley Park opted not to overturn the decision despite the player slipping before making contact with James Maddison.
It comes after Premier League clubs voted to keep VAR in operation in June following a vote by stakeholders, with Wolves the only team in opposition of the technology.
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