ORF experts baffled

Rapid in penalty luck after Auer handball?

(Bild: GEPA; on.orf.at)

Handball or no handball by a Rapid player? Penalty or no penalty against SK Rapid? Soccer and its handball rules remain a mystery, a book with seven seals - and not even the experts dare to take a clear position! Fortunately for Green-White, referee Mohammad Al Emara decided against a whistle in the first leg of the 2nd qualifying round of the Europa League and so the Viennese were spared an interim deficit at Wisla Krakow ...

It was just 35 minutes into the clash between the Polish cup winners and the Austrian league runners-up when Wisla went on the offensive. A cross from Ángel Rodado from the left wing landed dangerously in the penalty area, where Łukasz Zwoliński did not get the ball under control with his thigh, but nevertheless headed it towards goal - but Rapid defender Auer's hand, which was splayed out from his body, prevented worse ...

Whether referee Al Emara had not recognized a punishable handball or whether his view was perhaps obstructed - we don't know. The fact is that there was no penalty, although the ORF commentators and experts in particular had doubts as to whether Auer's intervention in the game complied with the rules.

While Michael Bacher argued for a handball and ex-professional Michael Liendl also tended towards a penalty, expert Helge Payer did not want to commit himself, and deliberately so: "In the meantime, everything is just a matter of interpretation!"

According to the former Rapid goalkeeper, it's time to come up with something when it comes to handball rules. So that after a situation in the penalty area you don't have to spend minutes discussing whether it was a punishable or a non-punishable handball ...