Former Premier League referee Mark Halsey has shared his thoughts on Patrick Bamford’s disallowed goal in Leeds United’s 4-1 loss to Crystal Palace on 7th November.
Bamford was his side’s only goalscorer in that game and he actually managed to stick the ball in the back of the net on two occasions, however, his first goal was ruled out by the Video Assistant Referee due to the position of his outstretched arm, as explained by the BBC.
Speaking exclusively to This Is Futbol, Halsey, who refereed 280 English top-flight fixtures during his career, according to Transfermarkt, had this to say about Bamford’s disallowed goal from that Premier League game:
“His armpit was [offside]. In my lifetime, I’ve never seen a player score with his armpit, have you?
“Listen, the IFAB and I think David Elleray’s at fault with some of these law changes, it’s just unbelievable. It’s not good, what they’ve done. It’s not been thought through.
“I don’t think that they ever thought about these scenarios when they brought in VAR regarding the offsides, I really don’t, but now it needs to be looked at – seriously looked at.”
In a post-match interview following that game, the £9m-rated Leeds striker shared that he didn’t understand the decision to rule out his first goal due to the position of his arm and he also claimed that Chris Kavanagh, who refereed that game, also “didn’t really know” why the goal was ruled out.
In addition to that, it’s clear from what Halsey had to say that he believes the decision was questionable.
Regardless of whether or not Halsey, Bamford or even Kavanagh agree with the decision, it would seem as though it was the correct one, as due to a change in the handball rule, the top of a player’s arm is deemed to be a body part with which they can score and so, the goal had to be ruled out, as per the BBC, but does the fact that an experienced ex-referee like Halsey believes this decision was “unbelievable” indicate that there are significant issues with the current interpretation of the handball rule and how it’s enforced?
Do you agree with Halsey's comments on this disallowed goal?
YES
NO
Plenty of ex-players have also criticised this particular decision so it was certainly a controversial one and perhaps controversial incidents like this will result in rules being re-examined in the near future.