https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/a-league/124610225/why-the-referees-were-right-to-deny-the-phoenix-a-penalty-against-the-roar
Gotta say I think Andrew is wrong here. Simple fact is that the defenders arm is making his body unnaturally large and the ball hits his arm, and there is no real reason for his arm to be out that wide, h's not in the process of bringing his arm down, it goes up from his side towards the ball and continues up once the ball makes contact. Under the law that is a handball all day. Intent has nothing to do with it. The question that needs to be answered is why is his arm there, he's not coming down from a jump, he's not moving much, just skipping into the box waving his arms about.
Gotta say I think Andrew is wrong here. Simple fact is that the defenders arm is making his body unnaturally large and the ball hits his arm, and there is no real reason for his arm to be out that wide, h's not in the process of bringing his arm down, it goes up from his side towards the ball and continues up once the ball makes contact. Under the law that is a handball all day. Intent has nothing to do with it. The question that needs to be answered is why is his arm there, he's not coming down from a jump, he's not moving much, just skipping into the box waving his arms about.
I agree. I know there have been recent updates to the rules (those should happen once a season maximum so as not to complicate things even further).
I was under the impression that if it struck the arm, even unintentionally, if the arm is in an unnatural position, then it is a penalty. This rule has been applied for some time now and we've all come around to the idea that sometimes penalties will be awarded even if the defender touches the ball by mistake - and frankly - at times we wished it wouldn't be a penalty. But as I said we all made our peace with that and felt the rules were there to protect everyone and give a uniform yard-stick on which to base such decisions.
I'm sick an tired of decisions going against us because of some obscure bullet point in the annex arse-end of the rule book(III.a.b.c.d.e. $b ~z)!!! Same goes for the penalty on Hemed a few weeks' back. He's about to take a shot, gets tripped and it's not a penalty because the defender basically found himself in the wrong place, at the wrong time. How's that different from a mis-timed tackle? Sorry ref I thought I was gonna get the ball... Tough luck son, still a pen!