Handball rule needs to be clarified for soccer refs

Incorrect calls determining results of games

ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA • I’m tired of soccer’s handball rule.

Decisions inside the penalty area are too important to the outcomes of games.

On Tuesday, Colombia’s Carlos Sanchez was ruled to have “deliberately” handled the ball inside the penalty area in order to prevent a goal.

Most agreed with the decision, but I’m not sure.

Here’s what the Laws of the Game state, according to the International Football Association Board’s 225-page handbook:

“Handling the ball involves a deliberate act of a player making contact with the ball with the hand or arm.

“The following must be considered: the movement of the hand towards the ball; the distance between the opponent and the ball; the position of the hand does not necessarily mean that there is an offence.”

A player — Sanchez, in this case — is to be sent off if they “deny the opposition team a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity by deliberately handling the ball.”

Common sense says Sanchez absolutely deserved to be red-carded.

We’ve seen that call made time and time again.

But a closer look at the laws confuses the hell out of a situation that needs to be clarified.

How did Sanchez “deliberately” handle the ball if his arm was outstretched (while jumping) at the exact moment the shot was taken?

Most refereeing decisions are subjective in this sport.

Remove the word “deliberate” from the laws and advise referees to call handballs only for the most egregious incidents.

Luis Suarez (2010) comes to mind.

AND ANOTHER THING

If you took in Monday’s England-Tunisia match, you saw Harry Kane get absolutely mauled on every set piece.

Tunisian defenders essentially two-arm tackled Kane during every corner kick and dangerous restart.

Keep in mind Croatia’s Mario Mandzukic was awarded a penalty against Nigeria after receiving the exact same treatment.

Yet the video assistant referees didn’t flag the Kane incidents despite viewers at home reviewing the plays on replay. There’s no way a halfdozen officials all saw those plays the same way.

My question is why those fouls aren’t being given.

BLATTER RETURNS

FIFA villain Sepp Blatter is scheduled to arrive in Moscow to take in PortugalMorocco, according to multiple reports.

Then he’ll travel to St. Petersburg to take in Brazil-Costa Rica.

It’s unclear how FIFA president Gianni Infantino feels about Blatter’s arrival at this tournament — especially after FIFA’s former leader was handed a six-year ban over allegations of corruption.

During a speech to the 68th FIFA Congress last week, Infantino praised himself for helping clean up FIFA’s image.

KIND OF SURPRISING

Sanchez’s third-minute red card in a 2-1 loss to Japan wasn’t the fastest sending off in World Cup history.

Uruguay’s Jose Batista was sent off 52 seconds into a 1986 meeting with Scotland after blading Scotland’s Gordon Strachan.

Coincidentally, Batista was interviewed about the incident by FIFA two years ago and said the Uruguayan equipment manager couldn’t believe it when he appeared back in the dressing room so soon after leaving.

“He said to me: ‘What are you doing here?’ I told him: ‘I got sent off.’ To which he said: ‘How can you get sent off when they’re still playing the national anthem?’ ”

LAST WORD

Nawaf Shukralla (Bahrain), the referee who oversaw Poland-Senegal, is being criticized for allowing injured M’Baye Niang to re-enter the pitch before Poland’s Grzegorz Krychowiak recovered possession and made the disastrous decision to float a 30-metre ball behind his defence.

That allowed Niang to race onto the ball and score seconds after coming back onto the field. But it’s not Shukralla’s fault the Polish midfielder elected to play a risky back pass (to nobody) that dropped awkwardly in between his goalkeeper and defence.

Unfortunate, but that’s all.