AboutStephen Smith Expertise I can answer any questions relating to the laws of the game and their application at any level from local parks to professional and international level. Feel free to ask about a referee's decision you don't understand, a hypothetical scenario, or a situation in which you as a referee need help.
Experience As an active and conscientious referee, officiating at semi-professional level, I have an excellent knowledge of the laws of the game. I also like to use common sense and this helps me to appreciate what other referees, including the professionals, may be thinking and how they have reached their decision.
Organizations FAMOA, Referees' Association, Referees' Society
Publications
I edit (and write most of) the bi-monthly magazine of the local Referees' Society.
During the 2006 FIFA World Cup the Electric New Paper (Singapore's biggest-selling tabloid) published an article of mine which the Editor requested I write regarding refereeing decisions in the Italy v USA game.
In October 2007 I was interviewed by the BBC World Service for a radio programme about player discipline.
I have had letters on refereeing published in The Times and The Daily Telegraph.
Education/Credentials I have a BA (Hons) degree in Applied Social Sciences, and my interest in psychology and sociology is useful in controlling 22 burly men ready for battle! I have attended numerous national and regional conferences and seminars, and attend and contribute to weekly referees' training meetings.
Awards and Honors
Awarded a trophy in 2007 for services to the Referees' Society.
Numerous local and regional cup final and semi-final appointments.
Question We had a player receive a red card today for a hand ball in the box. The opposing player took a shot and our player put his hands up in reaction to cover his face, and the ball hit him in the hands. The keeper was directly behind the player and the ref even told me that he believed the player was only trying to defend himself yet he insisted that it was an automatic red card. He sent off our player and awarded the other team a penalty kick. I politely disagreed and suggested that I thought he had made an error. It was not an empty net and an intentional hand ball to stop the goal and therefore it should be a penalty and a yellow card. He continued to insist that it must be a red card. I asked him to have the rule pointed out and he assured me that although he did not have his rule book he was correct. Thanks for the help in advance.
Answer Hi Steve,
I've given this scenario a lot of thought in the past in order to try to work out what I'd do if it happened in a game I was refereeing.
All the referee could have shown you in the laws of the game (which all referees should take to every game to show to people who ask polite questions, as you did) is that deliberate handball which prevents an obvious goalscoring opportunity is worth a red card. I think the basis of your argument is that it's a natural human reaction to use the hands to protect the face. That's what causes the problems - the hands have deliberately gone up so it's deliberate handball, but it's an instinctive reaction so is involuntary and therefore not deliberate.
However, this is only the case when working out whether it's deliberate handball and therefore whether there should be a penalty (or a free kick if it's outside the area). Your situation is slightly different in that the referee seems to have ignored the fact that if the player hadn't put his hands up to his face, the ball would have hit the face and stopped the ball going into the net. All the 'handball' has done has prevented a goal by using the hands rather than by using the face.
So the only decision your referee had to make is where he stands on the 'deliberate handball' versus 'instinctive reaction' argument. If it's instinctive he plays on (it not deliberate so there's no offence); if it's handball he gives the penalty. As the face would have prevented the goal anyway, there can be no red card option because the use of the hands made no difference to whether the ball entered the net. A yellow card is an option, but that would only be given if a penalty was also given, and there's then an argument that the penalty is punishment enough for a situation where the player was only protecting himself.
Personally, if the situation is exactly as you describe it I think a penalty is perfectly understandable. (I've concluded in the past that I'd need to see each situation before deciding whether to give a penalty for this.) Having given a penalty, I think giving a yellow card is too harsh. I'd say that giving a red card is wrong in law, as the 'deliberate handball' (as the referee has decided to classify it) did not prevent a goal, because the face would have legally done so anyway.
I hope that helps. Please leave feedback on the AllExperts site and get back to me if you like.
Regards,
Stephen Smith
Senior County Referee
Lancashire
Read my refereeing blog for FourFourTwo magazine at www.tinyurl.com/refblog
