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Handball rules updated by IFAB for 2020-21 season

This season has seen a multitude of goals disallowed for offences in the build-up, but that is set to change next term

The International Football Association Board (IFAB) has announced that tweaks have been made to the laws of the game heading into the 2020-21 season, with perhaps the most interesting being to what should and should not be called as a handball offence in the build-up to a goal.

At present, video assistant referees (VAR) will disallow a goal and pull back play for a free-kick if any attacking player is deemed to have touched the ball with their hand or arm in the build-up, by accident or otherwise, leading to teams feeling hard done by if an individual gets in the way through no fault of their own.