Footballers take advantage of new handball rules
Players attempting to deliberately winning penalties
Milan: Some players appear to be taking advantage of new handball rules to deliberately win penalties.
The new rules state that it is automatically a penalty if the ball touches a player’s hand or arm when it is above their shoulder, regardless of intent. That is how Roma forward Edin Dzeko won the first-half penalty in the Rome derby on Sunday.
Rather than shooting at goal, Dzeko appeared to see Sergej Milinkovic-Savic raise his arm and instead struck the extended limb to earn the spot kick, which was then converted by Aleksandar Kolarov.
“We have to get used to this new rule,” Lazio coach Simone Inzaghi said. “I think it was looked for and it was found.
“We mustn’t keep our arms up because otherwise footballers with really good aim will look for the arm in the area and, as a consequence, with these rules, a penalty will be given.”
Luis Alberto equalised for Lazio after the break and the match ended 1-1.