Hand Ball! (Handball Offense) – Part of Law 12

HAND BALL! (Handball Offense, Handling) – Part of Law 12

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Regarding hand balls in soccer, Law 12, “Fouls and Misconduct,” of the IFAB Laws of the Game, states that:

“A direct free kick is awarded [to the opposing team] if a player commits… a handball offense (except for the goalkeeper within his own penalty area).” If the handball offense occurs by a field defender within their own Penalty Area, the direct free kick is a Penalty Kick. The “hand” runs from the fingertips to the armpit of both arms. “For the purposes of determining handball offenses, the upper boundary of the arm is in line with the bottom of the armpit. [AND] Not every touch of a player’s hand/arm with the ball is an offense.”

Soccer Handball Locations on the Body – IFAB

“It is a [handball] offense if a player:

deliberately touches the ball with their hand/arm, for example moving the hand/arm towards the ball
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. By having their hand/arm in such a position, the player takes a risk of their hand/arm being hit by the ball and being penalized.
scores in the opponents’ goal:
- directly from their hand/arm, even if accidental, including by the goalkeeper
- immediately after the ball has touched their hand/arm, even if accidental

There are two significant points concerning application of the handball rule during the normal run of play. The first has to do with the parts of the body which contact the ball and the second has to do with the judgment of the Referee.

First, the parts of the body subject to the handball rule are both the fingers, hands and the arms, extending from the tips of the fingers up to the articulation of the shoulder. The articulation of the shoulder has been defined by the IFAB as being level with the armpit. The fact that the ball may contact the hands or the arms during the course of the game is not sufficient, in and of itself, for a penalty to be called.

Second, in order for a violation to have occurred, the Referee (or Assistant Referee): a.) must have seen the contact; and, b.) must have judged that the contact violated the Law. In order to determine that the contact with the ball was a handball offense, the Referee uses three general criteria:

If the player moved his hand or arm to the ball (“deliberate”); or,
If the player had sufficient reaction time to move his hand or arm out of the way of the flight of the ball and failed to do so (“deliberate”); or,
If the player had his hand or arm in an “unnatural” position for soccer, including away from the sides or above shoulder level (“made their body… bigger”).

If, in the opinion of the Referee, any of these acts occurred, a handball offense should be called. If the contact was determined to have not been deliberate or the body was not made bigger, then the touching is considered to be “accidental” and play is allowed to continue. This usually involves a situation where the player does not have sufficient reaction time to move the hand or arm away. This is only true unless, as a result of the contact, a goal is scored.

Difficulty with the application of the handball rule mostly occurs at the youth level where few hand balls are truly deliberate. However, players must be taught to keep their hands and arms out of situations where they could inappropriately influence play. In order to do so, coaches must teach young field players to keep their hands near their sides when the ball is bouncing around, and, to overcome the desire brought on by American sports such as football, basketball and baseball, to try to catch the ball. This may even include putting the arm/hand toward or behind the back, or even turning the body slightly to avoid a hard, oncoming ball.

In addition, coaches must teach young players to overcome the natural tendency to protect the body from a fast-moving ball, particularly the face, by blocking it with their hands. Instead, they must be taught that they may first duck or turn the body but, as they get older, they must learn to aggressively strike, deflect, or absorb the pace of, the ball. Also, for youth, if the ball hits the hand or arm, players should be taught not to react or to “look guilty” and to keep playing until a whistle is blown.

Disciplinary actions for handling include: Direct Free Kicks, Penalty Kicks, Cautions and Ejections. See the appropriate portions of “Fouls and Misconduct – Law 12” for all of the detail involved with handling.

The handling part of Law 12 concludes with the following:

“The goalkeeper has the same restrictions on handling the ball as any other player outside the[ir] penalty area. If the goalkeeper handles the ball inside their penalty area when not permitted to do so, an indirect free kick is awarded but there is no disciplinary sanction. However, if the offense is playing the ball a second time (with or without the hand/arm) after a restart before it touches another player, the goalkeeper must be sanctioned if the offense stops a promising attack or denies an opponent of the opposing team a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity.”

Soccer Coaching Tips:

The term “handball offense” or “handball” is now preferred by the IFAB instead of “handling” or “hand ball.”
Even adult players run afoul of having their arms in the wrong place, usually outstretched or above their head, and wonder why a handball offense is called when they are hit by the ball without sufficient time to withdraw their arm. They need to be taught that this is an “unnatural” position to the sport and not to have their arms there.
If a goalkeeper leaves their own Penalty Area, they become a field player and are subject to regular hand-ball rules.
As with all lines, it is the spacial relationship of the ball that matters for a goalkeeper in the own Penalty Area. It is not the location of their feet! If they are standing with their feet in the Penalty Area, but they are holding the ball in space outside of a Penalty Area line, they have committed a handball offense.
The IFAB offers the following additional explanations: “Greater clarity is needed for handball, especially on those occasions when ‘non-deliberate’ handball is an offense. The re-wording follows a number of principles: – [soccer] does not accept a goal being scored by a hand/arm (even if accidental), – [soccer] expects a player to be penalized for handball if they gain possession/control of the ball from their hand/arm and gain a major advantage e.g. score or create a goal-scoring opportunity, – it is natural for a player to put their arm between their body and the ground for support when falling, – having the hand/arm above shoulder height is rarely a ‘natural’ position and a player is ‘taking a risk’ by having the hand/arm in that position including when sliding, – if the ball comes off the player’s body, or off another player (of either team) who is close by, onto the hand/arm it is often impossible to avoid contact with the ball.”

NOTICE: This article is based on the soccer Laws of the Game as maintained by The International Football Association Board (IFAB). As represented in the article, the Laws may be paraphrased, edited for “American English” readability, or quoted in whole or in part. Supplemental wording presented by CoachingAmericanSoccer.com® should be provided in brackets. Every effort has been made to be faithful to the letter, spirit, and intent of the Laws however, since the Laws are subject to modification annually by the IFAB, recent changes may not be currently reflected. Although national associations are permitted to institute local rules changes to the Laws, particularly for “youth, veterans, disability and grassroots football,” the IFAB is the original source for the official English-language version of the Laws of the Game. If there is any question, the Laws of the Game may be found at TheIFAB.com.