Howard Webb, English football's chief refereeing officer, has openly criticized the current handball law as flawed and confirmed a significant officiating error that influenced the outcome of Sunday's Manchester derby.
Speaking on the program Match Officials Mic'd Up on Tuesday, Webb addressed several contentious refereeing decisions from this Premier League season, including the VAR process that allowed Manchester City's winning goal against United to stand.
Erling Haaland scored the only goal of the derby, but Webb acknowledged that the video assistant referee, Matt Donohue, missed a crucial detail: Chelsea loanee-turned-teammate Enzo Fernández had been standing in an offside position and interfered with play before the goal was scored. Webb called the missed decision "really disappointing" and confirmed that Donohue and his assistant, Blake Antrobus, have been removed from officiating duties until after the upcoming international break.
According to Webb, Donohue became fixated on reviewing whether Haaland himself was onside using semi-automated offside technology, correctly determining that the striker had not committed an offside offense himself. However, in doing so, the VAR failed to properly assess whether Fernández's positioning had impacted the play. "He doesn't touch the ball, but he doesn't truly evaluate other elements of offside," Webb explained, describing how Donohue developed "tunnel vision" during the review. Webb noted that it should have fallen to the rest of the VAR team to redirect Donohue's attention, but that support did not materialize in time.
Beyond the derby controversy, Webb used the platform to call for changes to football's handball regulations, pointing to a recent incident involving Manchester United defender Harry Maguire during a match against Ipswich Town. In that instance, the ball struck Maguire's hand before he attempted a shot that deflected off an Ipswich player, Jacob Greaves, and went into the net as an own goal.
Under current rules, a goal is disallowed if the ball touches a player's hand and then goes directly into the net, even if the handball was unintentional. However, if the ball touches another player before crossing the line, the goal only gets ruled out for deliberate handball. Since Maguire's contact was ruled accidental, the own goal was allowed to stand.
Webb argued this distinction creates unnecessary confusion for match officials and produces unfair outcomes. "It's a bit of a nonsense, isn't it?" he said, pointing out the contradiction that a well-struck shot off a player's arm would be disallowed, while a mishit shot that deflects in as an own goal is not. He suggested that officials should instead focus solely on whether a deliberate handball occurred, asking questions such as whether the player deliberately used their arm or unnaturally increased their body size to make contact, rather than getting caught up in technicalities about whether the initial effort was on target.
Webb's comments form part of a wider push toward transparency from the Professional Game Match Officials organization, known as Pro Ref, which has committed to publicly explaining contentious refereeing decisions going forward. The decision to address the Manchester derby error so soon after the match reflects this new approach, with Webb stressing the importance of acknowledging mistakes made by officials, even as he defended the professionalism and dedication of those involved.
Based on reporting from Guardian Football.