Ex-FIFA official blasts controversial incident in Everton loss v Man City as image emerges from Goodison
Keith Hackett has blasted the decision to award Manchester City a penalty in the game against Everton on Wednesday (27 December).
Responding to a picture of the alleged handball by midfielder Amadou Onana, the former FIFA official tweeted on Thursday (28 December) that the amendments to make decision-making easier by David Elleray, the technical director of the International Football Association Board (IFAB), have succeeded in doing the opposite.
He said that it “promotes inconsistency”, adding that it was a “poor decision” to give a penalty because it wasn’t a deliberate movement of hand to the ball by the 22-year-old Belgian, with the Toffees losing 3-1 at Goodison Park.
Who knows
The handball rule at the moment is as confusing as it’s ever been because there’s absolutely no consistency in the decisions that are being made.
The same incident that saw a penalty given against Onana could happen in another Premier League game and it wouldn’t result in the same outcome, which is a major problem.
While the ball definitely does strike the midfielder’s arm, it isn’t a deliberate attempt to block the ball and it isn’t exactly away from his body.
It also came at a crucial point in the game because Julian Alvarez then stepped up to the spot to put Man City 2-1 up and on their way to claiming the three points.
The handball rule simply has to be made simpler because it doesn’t seem as though anyone really knows what it is at the moment and that isn’t good enough in what is supposed to be the best league in world football.
In other Everton news, Dyche has revealed what he told Andre Gomes about his future at Goodison Park.