Handball or not? The penalty for Paris Saint-Germain against Bayern Munich shows once again how different perceptions can be – and that the frustration will probably remain.
At the end of every game in the Champions League, UEFA publishes “technical explanations” for the video assistant’s decisions on its website. Paris Saint-Germain was awarded a hand penalty at the end of the first half in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich.
“Bayern Munich’s number 19 player touched the ball with his left arm, which was in an unnatural position and splayed away from his body“, was UEFA’s official reasoning.
Bayern’s Alphonso Davies in the game against Paris Saint-Germain
Ex-professional Carragher: “Absolutely shocking”
Bayern’s Alphonso Davies received the ball to his left hand from a cross from the right. Referee Sandro Schärer from Switzerland decided on a penalty after being advised by video assistant Carlos del Cerro Grande from Spain and viewing the images. “That can be discussed a lot”Bayern Munich’s sports director Max Eberl commented on the scene in which Alphonso Davies played the ball with his hand. But Eberl asked: “What are we supposed to be upset about now?” Others did that for him.
Bayern coach Vincent Kompany called the penalty debatable and said: “We are in the semi-finals and that will be decided by details.” Former player Jamie Carragher spoke about one on US broadcaster CBS “scandalous decision” and named her “absolutely shocking”. At Prime, world champion Christoph Kramer said that the slow motion reinforced the impression of a handball, but for him it wasn’t. Bayern captain Joshua Kimmich complained to Prime that the decision was “not in the spirit of the game” because there was not a PSG player immediately behind Davies who was ready to take a shot.
Former English referee says: “A really bad decision”
Graham Scott, who was a referee in the Premier League until 2025, helped Bayern in particular. “There is no handball here”he told The Athletic portal. “The ball was played from close range, Davies kept his arms close to his body, his movement was completely natural. And there was no sign of any deliberate action.”
He added: “In the Premier League, this would have been rejected as a handball by the VAR at the first repetition, but the Spanish video referees work with a different interpretation in La Liga.” His conclusion: “That was a really bad decision.”
Former Premier League referee Graham Scott
German referee expert justifies the whistle
For Lutz Wagner, referee trainee at the DFB, the penalty whistle was justifiable. “Both arms are first behind the body. And then he extends his arm exactly where the ball flies.”says Wagner in an interview with Sportschau. Davies had his eyes on the opponent, which is why the ball was there “expected” been.
The fact that Davies deflected the ball with his own thigh was not a relief for the Bayern player in this case, said Wagner. “The ball only changed direction minimally. But there needs to be a clear change in direction so that the handball is not considered a criminal offense.”
DFB referee instructor Lutz Wagner in the Lower Saxony Stadium in Hanover
What’s in the rules
The handball rule is anchored in Rule 12.1 “Direct Free Kick”. The criteria mentioned there for a handball are:
- Intention
- A ball contact with the hand or arm when a player increases the hit area through an unnatural movement, i.e. “accepts” the handball when, for example, he holds his arm above his head.
- When a goal is scored, any handball is punishable, whether intentional or not.
Nothing more is written there. Many situations remain a matter of interpretation, which sometimes differs from association to association. UEFA is much stricter than the Premier League.
What was done in the past
The suffering in terms of handball increased especially in 2019. At that time, the rules keepers from the International Football Association Board (IFAB) introduced several clear categories for handball in a page-long text.
Many fans, coaches and TV experts had been calling for something like this for a long time. And the scope for interpretation became smaller for the referees – but the dissatisfaction became even greater. Wildly shot players suddenly produced hand penalties that no one wanted. So the rule keepers went around in circles and almost completely returned to the old rule in 2021 after just two years.
Alleged handball by Spain’s Marc Cucurella
Dissatisfaction and anger remain. In the Bundesliga, handball is an issue almost every week. The big trauma from a German perspective remains the European Championship quarter-finals with the denied hand penalty against Spain. Only indirectly, through training material for referees published by the media, did UEFA admit that Marc Cucurella’s handball should have led to a penalty.
Will it ever get better?
So what is the problem and how can it get better? The DFB Schiri GmbH recently prompted a scientific study on handball. One conclusion was that even technically correct decisions often lack acceptance. To change that, we need it “more objective criteria” for very specific situations.
For example, it is widely accepted that a “support arm” when a player falls to the ground does not cause a criminal handball. “Similar specifications are needed for other categories such as blocked edges”says the study – which practically fits the Davies case. The authors also write that the impact criterion could be explicitly taken into account in the regulations. This practically involves the question: Would the ball have ended up in touch or in the goal?
UEFA’s approach has been a generally stricter interpretation for some time, which leads to penalties more often. This perhaps makes situations easier to compare – but the discussions remain.
