Handball!

Having watched more than half a dozen matches in various leagues (EPL, Bundesliga, MLS) in the past week, I saw several incidents of 'handball', all of which were of a controversial nature that resulted in one or other of the teams aggrieved, fans angry and bewildered and commentators and pundits in disagreement as is always the case when these incidents happen.

This is a common occurence week in and week out in every league in the world and at every level of the game. A quite often game changing decision that hinges entirely on the discretion of one man, the referee. Yes some are blatantly obvious but 90% are arguable, very arguable at times.

Since video review is not even a remote possibility in the next few decades by the sound of it, I have a suggestion that will take the heat completely out of the situation, remove an enomous amount of pressure on the referee who has enough on his plate dealing with acts of simulation, diving, penalty calls and bad tackles in all areas of the field during the 90 minutes and more of play.

Plain and simple....ANY hand to ball or ball to hand contact whatsoever is an automatic spot-kick. Ok, so what if players take the option of simply firing the ball at an opponent in the 18-yard box, it's up to the defender to ensure it doesn't touch his arm or a hand and, more importantly.....it's the same for everybody and every team.

The positive side? Undoubtedy more penalties, meaning more goals and ultimately more excitement as there will be a lot less boring 0-0 half-time scorelines as teams have to adjust their tactics to suit the run of the game.