These days it's become very difficult for a referee to tell if a handball is deliberate, the crucial justification for penalising a player. One thing that's certain is that players are taking far too many risks in their own penalty area, testing the ability of a referee to decide if the player deliberately moved his hand or arm towards - or placed them in a position - where they would not naturally be during the normal run of play. Defenders slide towards a tackle with both arms in the air, gambling that a referee will interpret a handball as accidental if the attacker tries to loft the ball over the defender and strikes his raised hands. A referee is likely to penalise for handball if arms or hands are away from the sides when a player is standing normally. His arms are not where they would normally be, thus there's a deliberate movement of arm towards ball. I really can't understand why defenders deliberately handball by lifting their arms in the air to defend crosses. A Newcastle defender got away with this on Saturday against Portmouth, but only because the angle tricked the referee. There was little danger of a goal, so why risk giving away a penalty?
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