Rules
The handball rule explained
Handball is one of the most discussed rules in football. The principle is straightforward, but the detail can be easy to misunderstand. This guide explains what counts as handball and when it leads to a free kick, penalty or card.
What counts as handball
Handball is when a player other than the goalkeeper inside their own penalty area touches the ball with their hand or arm in a way the laws do not allow.
Handball can be deliberate, where a player intentionally moves their hand or arm towards the ball. It can also be accidental, but still treated as a foul because of how the player has positioned their arm.
The rule applies to contact with the hand or any part of the arm up to the bottom of the armpit. The shoulder is not part of the arm for handball purposes.
Deliberate handball
Any deliberate touch of the ball with the hand or arm is a foul.
Deliberate handball is judged by movement towards the ball. If an outfield player's hand or arm clearly moves to play the ball, or a goalkeeper does this outside their own penalty area, it is a foul. The consequence affects the punishment, not whether the handball was deliberate.
Deliberate handball is also one of the offences that can lead to a sending-off, particularly when used to stop a goal or a clear goal-scoring chance.
Accidental handball
Not every touch of the ball with the hand is a foul. Whether an accidental touch is penalised depends on what the arm was doing.
The key idea is whether the player has made their body unnaturally bigger with the arm. If a player has their arm out from the body in a way that is not justified by the action they are making, and the ball strikes the arm, handball can be given. If the arm is in a natural position close to the body, no foul is given.
The same principle applies when the ball comes off another part of the body before hitting the arm. If the rebound was unavoidable and the arm was in a normal position, no foul is given.
Special rule for goals
There is one extra rule that applies even to fully accidental handball.
If the ball goes directly into the opponents' goal from an attacking player's hand or arm, the goal is ruled out, even if the contact was accidental.
The same applies if the ball touches an attacking player's hand or arm and that same player scores immediately afterwards, even if the contact was accidental and the arm was in a natural position.
The rule is narrower than many people think. Accidental handball by one attacker does not automatically rule out a goal scored by a teammate. In that situation, the goal is disallowed only if the handball was an offence under the normal deliberate or unnaturally bigger body principles.
Goalkeepers and handball
Goalkeepers have their own set of handling rules.
Inside their own penalty area
A goalkeeper can use their hands legally inside their own penalty area, except when handling a deliberate kicked pass-back from a teammate, handling directly from a teammate's throw-in, touching the ball again after releasing it before another player has touched it, or controlling the ball with the hand or arm for more than eight seconds. The eight-second offence results in a corner kick to the opposition.
Outside their own penalty area
Outside their own penalty area, a goalkeeper is judged like any other player. A deliberate handball, or contact where the hand or arm makes the body unnaturally bigger, can be penalised. If a handball offence denies a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity, the goalkeeper can be sent off.
How handball is judged in practice
Handball decisions are often the most reviewed of any in modern football.
Referees consider the position of the arm, the speed and direction of the ball, the distance from the player who played the ball, and whether the action looks natural. In top competitions, VAR can review handball in connection with goals or penalty decisions.
The rule has been rewritten several times in recent years, partly to reduce uncertainty over accidental handball and partly to make decisions more consistent across leagues.
What to read next
Handball is part of the wider topic of fouls and other offences, and it connects directly to penalties and cards.