THE implementation of VAR to the Scottish game has been controversial so far and it continued in a similar vein at Celtic Park today.
After Ange Postecoglou's team took the lead through Sead Haksabanovic, they were pegged back to level terms by Dundee United following a contentious penalty award.
Defender Alexandro Bernabei was penalised by referee David Dickinson following a handball incident in the penalty box.
The Argentinian did not know much about the ball colliding with his arm but after Dickinson was urged by VAR to check his pitchside monitor, a penalty was awarded.
Going by the IFAB handball ruling, Dickinson awarded the spot kick due to adjudging Bernabei's arm to be in an unnatural position, making his body bigger.
The IFAB handball rule in full
For the purposes of determining handball offences, the upper boundary of the arm is in line with the bottom of the armpit. Not every touch of a player’s hand/arm with the ball is an offence.
It is an offence 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 penalised
– 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
