VAR disallowed a Juventus goal against Cagliari for handball because Luca Pellegrini’s shot struck Adrien Rabiot on the elbow.

The decision prompted controversy and even fury both on the pitch and online, as Rabiot had his arms wrapped around his torso, doing everything possible to tuck his arms in and not handle the ball.

If he had been defending a shot on target, then this would’ve seen intention taken into account and no penalty awarded for handball.

However, the rules continue to ban a goal scored with an arm, regardless of intention or if the arm is in a natural position.

The latest IFAB rules make that clear, noting it is a handball offence if a player scores in the opponents’ goal “directly from their hand/arm, even if accidental, including by the goalkeeper; or immediately after the ball has touched their hand/arm, even if accidental.

“Accidental handball that leads to a team-mate scoring a goal or having a goal-scoring opportunity will no longer be considered an offence.”

According to the IFAB rules for 2021-22, it was therefore the correct decision to disallow the Juventus goal.

19 thought on “Video: Why VAR was right to disallow Juventus goal”
  1. We are complicating the enjoyment and understanding out of this once simple game. Nobody fully understands the rules including the commentators who cannot provide any insight for viewers.

  2. If we respect the rules and if VAR respects the rules, Juve should have been rewarded a penalty against Inter. VAR is always against Juventus, no matter of the situation.

  3. Blame the coward for turning his back and ducking like a girl. Same goes for Arthur who was too scared and lazy to even try and challenge Joao Pedro.

  4. Rube Fans crying for not getting soft penalty calls vs Inter prove that they are sore losers.. you already have it many times, including first game at San Siro, and two non existent penalty last season that give you last UCL spot.. Cry baby need her mama

  5. The more important question would be what if that was an Inter player who did that?

    Marotta would be shaking down the refs and a quick phone call to the VAR (twelfth man of Inter) and a Rolex would sort out the problem.

  6. @ Lord – he was trying to get out of the way of a shot on goal. Why should he stand firm and block it? Silly comment. But it doesn’t matter, a good win for a juve against a team that only want to put up a wall.

  7. @Fino I know but look at his stance and haircut. The guy looks like a wimp and sure bends down like a mouse. Arthur is another timid little girl, too scared and lazy to try and block/challenge Joao Pedro. Cragno would have saved the effort but the mama’s boy should not disgrace the shirt like that. Juve once had real men like Conte, Vidal, Tevez and Montero and now have a mama’s boy.

  8. How about Rudiger’s handball that Chalobah scored against Juventus? The problem of the Var is the inconsistency because of referees’ intention. Some is arguable but some definitely NOT, for example,Torino were not awarded a crystal clear penalty is amazing.

  9. How is it inconsistent? The goalscorer cannot use their hands to score the goal.
    Because the ball hit Rabiot on its way in, the goalscorer would be Rabiot. But because it hit his hand to go in, it would be a goal by handball. Perfectly good call for the disallowed goal.

  10. juventini still crying over the Inter loss haha. You didn’t complain when a Cuadrado dive against Inter last season helped you steal 50mill worth of CL qualification from Napoli did you? Anyhow important win for juve to grab 4th spot again well done. That is your ambition now.

  11. If that’s cameback to refs subjectivity, then what is the use of VAR?
    Better return the rules before VAR era and you will see the natural and origin footbal matches, not with so many drama that only a waste of time

  12. If this had happened last week to cancel out an inter goal, there would be a parliamentary inquest. Any unbiased observer would agree that the call was farcical. In the end it didn’t matter.

  13. @Fino alla fine

    In 18-19 a penalty was awarded against Inter (for Fiorentina), despite the ball coming off the chest of D’Ambrosio. And VAR was there. Need I remind you of the infamous Pjanic challenge on Rafinha in 17-18 whi should have resulted in a 2nd yellow for Pjanic when juve were 2-1 down? Neither incident was discussed in Parliament.. 😉

  14. @aston Inter got the softest of penalties too like the one that needed to be taken twice and then the foul on Zakaria from bastoni showed the ref got it all wrong because if he gave the free kick and Bastoni’s foot was on the line then it should have been a penalty because the rule shows that the foot on the line results in a penalty against inter but yet he gave a free kick

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Tickets Kit Collector