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IGNORANT COMMENTATORS GET
ON MY WICK
January 28th 2008 In almost every game there is at least one penalty claim for handball and because a TV commentator says "His hand was up" or "His hands were away from his body" or "He didn't get his hands out of the way" then the viewing public tend to think that if the commentator thinks that is a penalty then it should have been given. Punters are influenced by TV commentators even though they don't realise it and I've often been at games where most fans around you agreed a certain player has had a fantastic game and is probably the man of the match then you get home and they guys in the pub almost to a man have a different man of the match, by no coincidence the same one the commentator has been mentioning throughout the game. As soon as the ball hits a hand in the penalty area the cries go up for handball from the crowd behind the goal or from the players on the park and quite often a weak referee will give the penalty simply because he is influenced by this and as soon as he has awarded it he will usually realise he shouldn't have. Even the player who has handled the ball doesn't protest too much because he too is accustomed to the fact that a penalty is awarded if the ball touches a hand that is anywhere other than by his side. The fact is that most penalties given for handball are not penalties at all as the ball has not been intentionally handled by the player. In the Laws of The Game, Law 12 (Fouls and Misconduct) states that a free kick is awarded if a player handles the ball deliberately. This of course means that a player must intentionally handle the ball for it to be a free kick or penalty. Why would a player intentionally handle the ball in his own penalty area knowing it will give away a penalty? To stop the ball going into the net is an obvious one and to prevent it going past him and reaching an opponent is another but I can't think of any other reasons for a player to do it deliberately. Many penalties are awarded simply because the ball has struck the player on the hand or arm when he is jumping even though he has not intentionally tried to divert the ball. I've seen them given when a player has tried to control the ball with his chest and it has taken a bad bounce or he has been nudged and it strikes his arm. I watched a game at the weekend where the ball bounced up at the same time as the player's hand was coming down and he inadvertently played it like a basketball player would but the referee, realising it was accidental got it spot on even though the co-commentator said "Oooh he definitely tootched it with 'is 'and, that was a pen John". Yesterday we had a co-commentator at the Falkirk v Celtic match also claiming penalties whenever the ball touched a hand. The ball touched Gary Caldwell on the hand, he jumped for a header along with another player and the ball struck his hand, was it his intention to stop that ball with his hand? Not a chance so the referee did his job properly. Stephen McManus had the ball blasted at him from close range and it hit him in the stomach. What happens when you take a blow to the stomach? You automatically bring your arms in which is exactly what happened and again the referee got it correct. So whether a player has his hands up in the air or straight out like the Angel Of The North makes no difference at all, the bottom line is intent and if he has not intentionally played that ball with his hand then it is quite simply not a penalty.
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