Handball rule explained: what is an offence and what is not

Not every touch of the ball with the hand or arm is handball. Under Law 12 of the IFAB's Laws of the Game 2026/27, a player commits an offence in three cases: touching the ball deliberately, touching it with an arm that has made the body unnaturally bigger, and scoring with the hand or arm or immediately after the ball has touched it. Any other touch is not a handball offence, although a goalkeeper has extra restrictions inside their own penalty area. It decides penalties every weekend, and its wording changed in three successive seasons from 2019.

Where does the arm begin?

At the armpit. For handball, the upper boundary of the arm is in line with the bottom of the armpit, so the shoulder is part of the body, and a ball that strikes it is not handball. The same line is used for offside, which is why a shoulder can put a player offside but a hand cannot.

When is touching the ball with the hand an offence?

Deliberate handball. A player who deliberately touches the ball with the hand or arm commits an offence. The law's own example is moving the hand or arm towards the ball.

An arm that makes the body unnaturally bigger. A player commits an offence when the ball touches a hand or arm that has made their body unnaturally bigger. The law defines that: the position of the arm is not a consequence of, or justifiable by, the player's body movement in that specific situation. A player who holds an arm in such a position takes the risk of it being hit by the ball and being penalised.

So for this offence the question is not whether the touch was intended but whether the arm had a reason to be where it was.

What is not handball?

The IFAB's questions and answers on Law 12 show where the line falls.

• A defender's arm is close to the side of the body and is moved in towards it to avoid the ball: not an offence.
• A defender kicks the ball and it then hits their own arm: not an offence, because the contact follows the player deliberately playing the ball with another part of the body.
• A defender is fairly challenged, slips, falls and touches the ball with a hand: not an offence, because the contact came from the player's natural movement in that situation.
• A team-mate's clearance hits the arm of a defender standing close by who does not expect it: not an offence, whether the arm was close to the body or already extended.
• A defender slides to block a pass and the ball hits an arm clearly extended away from the body and not supporting it: an offence, a direct free kick or a penalty.

Can a goal be scored with the hand?

No. A player commits an offence by scoring in the opponents' goal directly from the hand or arm, even accidentally, the goalkeeper included, or immediately after the ball has touched their hand or arm, even accidentally. The position of the arm does not matter here.

That applies only to the scorer. An accidental touch by a team-mate in the build-up is not an offence, unless it was deliberate or the arm made the body unnaturally bigger, and nor is an accidental touch that creates a chance. If an attacker's arm brushes the ball without making their body unnaturally bigger, they pass to a team-mate and the ball comes back for them to score, the goal stands, because they did not score immediately after the touch.

The ban applies only to the attacking team: a defender whose header hits their own arm and goes into their own goal has scored a goal that counts.

What is the punishment for handball?

A handball offence is a direct free kick, or a penalty if it happens inside the offender's own penalty area (a goalkeeper inside their own area is the exception, below). It can only be given while the ball is in play.

The card depends on what the handball stopped and whether it was deliberate. Law 12 sets it out like this:

• A caution for handling to interfere with or stop a promising attack, unless the referee gives a penalty for a non-deliberate handball, in which case there is no card.
• A caution for handling in an attempt to score a goal, whether or not it works.
• A caution for denying a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity with a non-deliberate handball when the referee gives a penalty.
• A sending-off for denying a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity with a deliberate handball, anywhere on the pitch (except a goalkeeper inside their own penalty area).
• A sending-off for denying a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity with a non-deliberate handball outside the player's own penalty area.

So the same non-deliberate handball that stops a goal can be a penalty and a yellow card inside the area, and a free kick and a red card a yard outside it.

One change arrived with the 2026/27 laws. When a player tries to stop a goal with a hand, fails, and the referee plays advantage and the goal is scored, there is no caution. In the IFAB's example, a defender deliberately handles on the line, the ball still reaches an attacker who scores, and the goal stands without a card.

What about the goalkeeper?

Outside their own penalty area, a goalkeeper has the same restrictions on handling as any other player. Inside it, a goalkeeper who handles the ball when not allowed to (after releasing it, after a team-mate deliberately kicks it to them, or straight from a team-mate's throw-in) concedes an indirect free kick, with no card even if it stopped a promising attack or a goal. The exception is a goalkeeper who plays the ball a second time after a restart before anyone else has touched it, with or without the hand: that is sanctioned if it stops a promising attack or denies a goal or an obvious chance.

How does VAR judge handball?

A handball reaches the video referee as part of a goal, a penalty or a straight red card, including an attacking handball in the build-up. The protocol divides the question in two. Where the ball touched the arm is a fact, which slow motion can settle. Whether the touch was an offence is a judgement, which should be watched at normal speed, and for which an on-field review at the pitchside monitor is the appropriate route.

Why does the handball rule keep changing?

The IFAB changed the text in three successive seasons.

2019/20. The handball section was rewritten for greater clarity, especially on when a non-deliberate handball is an offence. Its principles: no goal scored with the hand or arm, even by accident, and an arm between the body and the ground when falling is natural. The new text made it "usually" an offence when the arm made the body unnaturally bigger or was above shoulder level, and penalised a player who gained possession or control of the ball after it touched their arm and then scored or created a chance.

2020/21. The bottom of the armpit was fixed as the boundary of the arm, and an accidental handball by an attacker or a team-mate was penalised only if the goal or the chance followed immediately.

2021/22. At its meeting on 5 March 2021, the IFAB confirmed that not every touch of the hand or arm is an offence and that referees should judge the arm's position against the player's movement in that situation. Accidental handball by a team-mate before a goal, and accidental handball that creates a chance, were removed as offences, and the lists of situations that were and were not handball, the shoulder-level line among them, gave way to the single test of the unnaturally bigger body. That is still the wording in the 2026/27 laws.

The offence has not been reworded since, but the sanctions have: since 2024/25 a non-deliberate handball punished with a penalty brings a caution rather than a red card for denying a goal, and no card for stopping a promising attack and, from this season, the advantage change above. The central call, whether an arm's position was justifiable, is still the referee's.

Every penalty and red card this season is on the match pages of each competition: Premier League, LaLiga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, Champions League.

Sources: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 12 – Fouls and Misconduct, Law 14 – The Penalty Kick, IFAB VAR protocol, IFAB law changes 2026/27, IFAB Laws of the Game 2024/25, IFAB Circular 22 and the 2021/22 law changes, IFAB law changes 2020/21, IFAB Laws of the Game 2019/20.