Why Liverpool didn’t get a penalty for Odegaard’s handball | OneFootball

Martin Odegaard may have been a little lucky not to concede a penalty against Liverpool, but by the letter of the law it was probably the right decision.

Following Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with Liverpool on Saturday, much of the post-match controversy surrounded the decision not to award the hosts a penalty, after the ball made clear contact with Martin Odegaard’s hand.

“Yes, I have seen it,” Jurgen Klopp said afterwards. “I am pretty sure someone will come to explain it to me why it was not a handball but I don’t know how?”

The explanation Klopp is looking for comes from the IFAB changes to the Laws of the Game from the 2019/20 season onwards.

As Odegaard attempted to turn around, his foot slipped from under him; a consequence of Liverpool’s overwatered Anfield pitch.

Odegaard’s arm went out to support his body as he fell, and that’s when it made contact with the ball.

According to the laws since 2019/20, there will be no handball offence “if a player is falling and the ball touches their hand/arm when it is between their body and the ground to support the body”.

The only exceptions would be if the arm had made the body unnaturally bigger, or if the handball was deemed deliberate. Neither of those exceptions apply in this case, as the movement of the arm was clearly a natural and unintentional reaction to the slip.

Despite the rules clearly making an exception for this kind of incident, it still wouldn’t have been surprising to see the referee point to the spot.

But by the letter of the law, you can see why he might not, and the ambiguity created by the new law make it hard to argue it was a “clear and obvious” error by the on-field official. As a result, the VAR officials shouldn’t intervene.