For a couple of years accidental handball that led to a team-mate scoring used to see a goal ruled out.
But there were constant complaints, which reached a head when a Fulham goal for Josh Maja was controversially disallowed for an accidental handball by Mario Lemina directly before scoring.
So the law was changed in 2021. Now it only applies to the goalscorer.
And that allows Salisbury to come to a different decision about Mbeumo.
A handball in the build-up must be deliberate – or the arm be in an unnatural position.
So, if Mbeumo’s shot had gone in, the goal would have to be disallowed. Because it was blocked, it can be allowed to stand and becomes a subjective judgement of the handball offence.
“It is a decision that will split people, I can see both sides of the argument, but I think we have had so many talks this side of the border and north of the border recently, that we need to go back to deliberate handball,” said Cann.
“If it is unequivocally a handball then we disallow. If the handball is accidental or if the arm is in an unnatural position and we have all these clauses in the law then it gets a bit complicated so I would advocate for a return to just deliberate handball.”
There was a perfect example of this from December in a game between Brighton and West Ham.
The ball deflected off the body of Georginio Rutter before contact with the arm. The Brighton player then saw a shot saved by Alphonse Areola. The loose ball ran to Jan Paul van Hecke, who passed to Rutter to score Brighton‘s stoppage time equaliser.
Because Rutter did not score immediately after the ball had touched his arm, the goal was legal.
West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo was furious the goal was allowed to stand, but in law it was not handball.
The Mbeumo decision is more controversial, as the ball would have run away from him had it not hit his arm.
Within VAR protocol, referees are asked to consider “what would football expect?”
In this case, giving handball would be the far less controversial outcome.
