Why John Souttar Rangers handball should not have been punished as ex ref throws out IFAB rule book

Why John Souttar Rangers handball should not have been punished as ex ref throws out IFAB rule book

Rangers’ defender John Souttar should NOT have been fined for handball against Benfica, with former referee Bobby Madden leading the defense for the centre-back.

It was a significant night for Philippe Clement’s team, who left Lisbon with a credible first-leg draw ahead of the Europa League second leg – but things could have gone much better for the Scottish Premiership leaders when they faced the Portuguese champions. Benfica were controversially allowed to tie the game at 1-1 with an Angel Di Maria penalty after the Rangers’ defender was assessed to have touched the ball in the box.

Souttar attempted to clear a corner, but the ball ended up on his own arm. Referee Tobias Stieler did not originally stop play, but was summoned to the monitor by the VAR team to evaluate the incident, giving World Cup winner Di Maria the opportunity to level the score.

According to IFAB rules, it is illegal if a player “deliberately touches the ball with their hand/arm, for example moving the hand/arm towards the ball” or “touches the ball with their hand/arm when it has made their body unnaturally bigger.” It continues: “A player is judged to have grown their body unnaturally bigger when the position of their hand/arm is not a consequence of, or justifiable by, the player’s body movement for that specific situation. By having their hand/arm in such a position, the player takes a risk of their hand/arm being hit by the ball and being penalised.”

Former Rangers goalkeeper Cammy Bell argued on the BBC’s Scottish Football program that Souttar did not make his body abnormally bigger as he sought to head the ball clear. He stated, “When you see it back, it hits his head and the ball goes into his arm when he is leaning in and trying to win the header, for me.” Yes, his arm is away from his body, but I don’t want to view that as a penalty against any team or player.”

Furthermore, following a series of contentious decisions, UEFA’s football board issued the following advice regarding their interpretation of the handball rule earlier this season. It stated: “The board proposes that UEFA emphasize that no handball offense should  be called on a player if the ball is previously deflected from his own body and, in particular, when the ball does not go towards the goal.”

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