Leading figures call on UEFA to issue new guidelines on handball

A group of top European managers and former players, including the Republic of Ireland's record goalscorer Robbie Keane, have called on UEFA to issue new guidelines on handball.

Interpretation of the handball law continues to be one of the most contentious areas of the game, but the new UEFA Football Board, which met for the first time this week, has issued recommendations for next season.

The board, which includes Keane, England boss Gareth Southgate, former England defender Rio Ferdinand and former Wales striker Gareth Bale, said UEFA guidelines should clarify "that no handball offence should be called on a player if the ball is previously deflected from his own body and, in particular, when the ball does not go towards the goal".

An exception to this would be if a player scored immediately after such contact with the hand or arm, where the law is clear that any contact – whether deliberate or not – must be penalised.

UEFA cannot change the law but can instruct referees in its competitions to interpret it differently.

The Football Board also said that not every handball after a shot at goal should result in a caution and urged UEFA to launch an initiative towards the game's lawmaking body, the International Football Association Board to ensure a player should only be sent off for a handball which denies a goalscoring opportunity if they deliberately or intentionally touch the ball with their hand or arm. Otherwise, a yellow card should be issued, the board said.

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said earlier this month he "absolutely doesn’t understand" the handball law.

"What’s clear is that the current handball law is really obscure. No one understands it any more," he told Slovenian newspaper Ekipe SN.

"So we really need a