Handball Rules in Football: Understanding the Latest Changes by FIFA & UEFA

The handball rules in football have changed a lot since the turn of the century, especially with the advent of technology, such as the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), and the speed of the modern game. In recent years, the handball rule has increasingly become a contentious issue in the game. How the handball laws are interpreted and officiated by the officials is another matter.

No football fan will forget injustices delivered upon their favourite club or their country’s national team quite like handball offences going the opposition’s way. Diego Maradona’s “Hand of God” goal versus England in the 1986 World Cup quarter-final in Mexico City is without a doubt the most infamous goal scored with a player’s hand.

There have been other notorious handballs at World Cup tournaments, not just Maradona’s deliberate handball goal. Luis Suarez and Thierry Henry both used their hands in different situations to help their countries win important knockout matches. Maradona scored with his hand, Suarez stopped a certain goal with a deliberate handball on his team’s own goal-line, and Henry used his hand to set-up a goal for a team-mate. 

Who can forget Suarez’s deliberate handball to stop Ghana’s Dominic Adiyiah scoring against Uruguay at the FIFA 2010 FIFA World Cup quarter-final in South Africa? Suarez left the field crying but Ghana did not convert their penalty, and subsequently lost in a penalty shootout to exit the tournament. Suarez’s deliberate handball, followed by his celebrating of his unsportsmanlike conduct afterwards, made the South American striker public enemy No.1 in Africa. 

In 2009, during extra time of the FIFA 2010 World Cup playoffs, Henry set up William Gallas’ goal with his hand to deny the Republic of Ireland a place at the 2010 World Cup. France qualified in place of Ireland but still flopped out of the World Cup in the group stage. There have been several handball controversies this year in the Premier League, which has been inconsistently applied by the English officials. 

Many controversial incidents – not only handball - paved the way for modern technology and VAR to eliminate mistakes and not allow blunders to be rewarded or go unpunished. SportsBoom takes a comprehensive look at the handball rules, what they mean, and how FIFA and UEFA interpret them.

What is the Handball Rule in Football?

Law 12.1 of the IFAB rules deem it a foul if a player deliberately touches the ball with their hand or arm. Players are not allowed to deliberately move their hand, arm towards the ball, or use their hand or arm to play the ball on any part of the field.

Players may only use their hands when taking a throw-in, which takes place outside the field of play. The handball rule in football stops players from “gaining an advantage by playing the ball with their hand or arm.” If the referee adjudges players to have deliberately handled the ball, a free-kick or penalty will be awarded against them and their team.

A deliberate handball will usually result in the offending player getting a yellow card, but if they're judged to have intentionally stopped a goalscoring opportunity, then the officials can show a red card. 

There are two key things that must be clarified: Firstly, in relation to a handball offence, the boundary between the arm and the shoulder, which the ball can legally be played with, is in line with the bottom of the armpit. Secondly, it is not an offence every time the ball touches the hand or arm of a player.

What is a handball offence in football? 

•    Deliberate Touch: An offence occurs if a player deliberately touches the ball with their hand or arm by moving their hand or arm toward the ball.
•    Unnatural Body Position: An offence occurs when the referee (or VAR) decides a player has made their body unnaturally bigger when the position of their hand or arm is not a consequence of their unnatural body movement for that specific situation.
•    Upper Arm Boundary: It is a handball offence if the upper part of the arm is in line with the bottom of the armpit when the ball strikes. Should the ball strike the top of the arm, however, it is not a handball. This gives the players some flexibility with using their shoulders. Players are allowed to use their shoulders to play the ball - known as the 'sleeve rule'.

VAR and Interpretations

This season, the mishandling of the handball laws by the Video Assistant Referees (VAR) has highlighted the inconsistencies in applying the rule, especially throughout the football leagues and cup competitions in Europe. 

Football Handball Rules and FIFA Guidelines

The International Football Association Board (IFAB) is the governing body that sets, oversees, alters, and releases the Laws of the Game, which all football leagues use as a universal set of rules. 

The IFAB has tried (and failed) to define the handball rules, but there have been different interpretations of the major European leagues officiating the handball laws for many years. However, the organisation seems no nearer to sorting out these indeterminate rules. 

The most recent updates to the handball rule came before the start of the 2022/23 season, but no information as to whether the handball laws will be tweaked within the coming 2024/25 season. IFAB defined what part of the arm is illegal to use, which has changed. 

In 2019, IFAB permitted contact with the top of the arm, termed the "sleeve rule," which allowed players scope with using their shoulder when playing the ball. If the ball touched the upper portion of a player's arm, it would not be ruled a handball offence, so only blatant handball fouls would be punished.

IFAB rules deem a handball offence has occurred:

•    If a player deliberately touches the ball with their hand/arm, for example: moving the hand/arm towards the ball.
•    If a player touches the ball with their hand/arm when it has made their body unnaturally bigger. A player is considered to have made 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. If a player has their hand/arm in such a position, the player risks their hand/arm being hit by the ball and being penalised.
•    If a player scores a goal directly from their hand/arm, even if accidental, including by the goalkeeper; or immediately after the ball has touched their hand/arm, even if accidental.

If an accidental handball in the build-up leads to a player’s team-mate scoring or having a goal-scoring opportunity, it will no longer be a carded offence.

Rules for Goalkeepers Handling the Ball

The goalkeeper is the hardest position in football. The ‘keeper is allowed to use his hands inside his own penalty area, but there a few technical rules that limit the keeper from handling the ball in certain circumstances. 

The back pass rule is the main infringement a goalie can be cautioned or sent off for if handling the ball. If a goalkeeper handles a teammate's deliberate back pass, the referee (or VAR, if needed) will award an indirect free-kick inside the 18-yard box. 
If a goalkeeper leaves his box with the ball in their possession, the ‘keeper can be carded or sent off depending on if they have already been cautioned by the official. If the goalkeeper deliberately handles the ball outside the 18-yard area, they can be red carded. 

How UEFA handball rules are different

The International Football Association Board cannot address every situation and scenario that could unfold during a game. Like any codified rule, the laws will always be open to interpretation. Moreover, every league, competition, and governing body has guidelines as to how to interpret the rules.

UEFA did that with guidelines for the 2023/24 season. The European governing body relaxed the whistling of handball offences for deflections and the punishments for yellow and red cards.

The guidelines for the 2023/24 season meant that no handball offence should be punished if the ball is previously deflected from the defending player’s   body when the ball does not go towards the goal.

UEFA decided that not every handball should automatically lead to a yellow card after every shot at goal, as directed by the current IFAB guidelines. UEFA guidelines encouraged officials to give yellow cards for handball offences in the penalty area, which resulted in a penalty. Under the new 2023/24 guidelines, the laws were relaxed.

The new UEFA guidelines stated that they would petition IFAB to change the rule of a red card for denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity by deliberately handling the ball. This was done to take intent into account with this decision. Furthermore, under UEFA's suggestion, the laws changed to show a red card only if an intentional handball denied a goal. Previously, a yellow card would have been given if the intent were unclear.

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