Connor Goldson's handball incident for Rangers against Hearts has been tipped to be a starting point for referees getting calls inside the penalty box correct.
The defender kicked the ball up onto his own hand during a convincing 3-0 win for Michael Beale's men over Hearts at Tynecastle, sparking debate over whether VAR should have been looking at it as a possible penalty. VAR backed up referee John Beaton's initial assessment and former Rangers defender Richard Foster agreed on PLZ Soccer that it wasn't an incident worthy of a spot-kick.
There has been some dubiety over the handball rule this season in the wake of VAR's introduction, but the ex-full-back is keen for this moment with Goldson to perhaps be an example for referees to follow. He explained: "I don't think you can be clear whether it definitely hits his hand. It maybe brushes past it. The ridiculous thing is that weeks ago there would have been more of a chance of it being given.
"But I don't think it can be given as a handball. But, there's always that part of you because his arm comes up a little bit, you are waiting for it to be called or waiting for it to be looked at.
"Thankfully it wasn't and hopefully in games moving forward, those kind of handballs won't be given as penalty kicks. No penalty for me and hopefully that is the start of them getting more right than wrong."
IFAB rules state: "It is a handball offence if a player: "Deliberately touches the ball with their hand/arm, for example moving the hand/arm towards the ball or touches the ball with their hand/arm when it has made their body unnaturally bigger.
"A player is considered to have made their body unnaturally bigger when the position of their hand/arm is not a consequence of, or justifiable by, the player’s body movement for that specific situation. By having their hand/arm in such a position, the player takes a risk of their hand/arm being hit by the ball and being penalised".
