Howard Webb calls accidental handball law nonsense after derby VAR blunder
Howard Webb thinks football's accidental handball law is "a bit of a nonsense" — and he wants it changed.
Webb is the chief refereeing officer for English football. He spoke on Tuesday on Match Officials Mic'd Up, the show where referees' chiefs review controversial Premier League incidents, according to The Guardian.
The law is strict. If a player scores directly with hand or arm, or scores immediately after the ball touches hand or arm, it is an offence. Even if it is accidental.
Webb said that goes too far. He pointed to Manchester United against Ipswich. The ball struck Harry Maguire's hand before his shot deflected off Jacob Greaves and went in as an Ipswich own goal.
Under the current wording, that kind of goal must be ruled out. Webb called for reform because the game, he argued, does not want goals chalked off for something so clearly unintentional.
What makes this stand out is who is saying it. Webb is not a pundit. He is the man in charge of the officials. When he calls his own rulebook nonsense, it carries weight.
He also addressed Sunday's Manchester derby. Erling Haaland scored the only goal in Manchester City's win. It should not have stood.
Referee Michael Oliver first disallowed Haaland's 60th-minute strike for offside on the pitch. VAR Matt Donohue then intervened. VAR, the video assistant referee, checks key decisions from a studio. Donohue used semi-automated offside technology, a camera-tracking system that judges offside positions, to overturn the call and allow the goal.
Webb said he was "really disappointed" with the outcome. He blamed "tunnel vision" by Donohue for the derby winner being allowed to stand, according to St Albans Review.
Donohue and his assistant, Blake Antrobus, were stood down on Monday. The referees' body acknowledged an error of judgment. Webb said the pair will not officiate again until after the international break.
The decision was taken by Webb with his management team after a review of the weekend's action.
For fans, this means two separate debates in one week. One is about human error in the biggest game of the season so far. The other is about whether the laws themselves need rewriting.
