How many penalties were given for handball over the festive period?

La Liga continues to lead the way for the amount of penalties given for the ball touching the hand inside the box

12:40pm on Tuesday 5th January 2021
By Martin Macdonald

Between 18 December 2020 and 5 January 2021, no less than 50 penalties were awarded across the top four leagues in the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, and the Bundesliga.

Fourteen were given in England, 16 in Spain, 15 in Italy, and finally five in Germany, with the Bundesliga having significantly less due to their festive break.

Surprisingly, however, none of the penalties awarded in the Premier League were awarded for handball, with referees noticeably less harsh towards this infraction recently compared to previously.

La Liga remains the worst offending top four league for handballs penalised, with 18 out of the 68 awarded so far for a handball foul.

2020/21 SO FAR

Team	Date Given	Match	Cause of Pen
Liverpool	12 Sept 2020	Liverpool 4-3 Leeds	Handball (Robin Koch)
Crystal Palace	19 Sept 2020	Man Utd 1-3 Palace	Handball (Victor Lindelof)
Southampton	20 Sept 2020	Southampton 2-5 Tottenham	Handball (Matt Doherty)
Man Utd	26 Sept 2020	Brighton 2-3 Man Utd	Handball (Neap Maupay)
Everton	26 Sept 2020	Palace 1-2 Everton	Handball (Joel Ward)
Newcastle	27 Sept 2020	Tottenham 1-1 Newcastle	Handball (Eric Dier)
Fulham	18 Oct 2020	Sheff Utd 1-1 Fulham	Handball (Jack Robinson)
Leicester	8 Nov 2020	Leicester 1-0 Wolves	Handball (Max Kilman)
Man City	8 Nov 2020	Man City 1-1 Liverpool	Handball (Joe Gomez)
Man Utd	21 Nov 2020	Man Utd 1-0 West Brom	Handballl (Darnell Furlong)
Brighton	7 Dec 2020	Brighton 1-2 Southampton	Handballl (James Ward-Prowse)
Liverpool	13 Dec 2020	Fulham 1-1 Liverpool	Handballl (Aboubakar Kamara)

Out of the 67 penalties awarded in the Premier League so far this season, 12 have been for handball.

LA LIGA PENALTIES

2020/21 SO FAR

Team	Date Given	Match	Cause of Pen
Betis	20 Sept 2020	Betis 2-0 Valladolid	Handball (Oscar Plano)
R. Madrid	26 Sept 2020	Betis 2-3 Real Madrid	Handball (Marc Bartra)
Levante	27 Sept 2020	Osasuna 1-3 Levante	Handball (Raul Navas)
Eibar	30 Sept 2020	Eibar 0-1 Elche	Handball (Pere Milla)
Villarreal	30 Sept 2020	Villarreal 1-1 Huesca	Handball (Pablo Maffeo)
R. Sociedad	3 Oct 2020	R. Sociedad 3-0 Getafe	Handball (Mathias Olivera)
Eibar	3 Oct 2020	Valladolid 1-2 Eibar	Handball (Jawad El Yamiq)
R. Madrid	24 Oct 2020	Barcelona 1-3 Real Madrid	Foul (Clement Lenglet)
R. Sociedad	25 Oct 2020	R. Sociedad 4-1 Huesca	Handball (Pablo Maffeo)
Atletico	31 Oct 2020	Osasuna 1-3 Atletico	Handball (Oier Sanjurjo)
Elche	6 Nov 2020	Elche 1-1 Athletic	Handball (Hugo Mallo)
Valencia	8 Nov 2020	Valencia 4-1 Real Madrid	Handball (Lucas Vaquez)
Valencia	8 Nov 2020	Valencia 4-1 Real Madrid	Handball (Sergio Ramos)
Barcelona	8 Nov 2020	Barcelona 5-2 Betis	Handball (Aissa Mandi)
Real Madrid	28 Nov 2020	Real Madrid 1-2 Athletic	Handball (Nacho)
Sevilla	19 Dec 2020	Sevilla 1-1 Valladolid	Handball (Fede)
Huesca	22 Dec 2020	Huesca 1-1 Levante	Handball (Ruben Vezo)
Sevilla	29 Dec 2020	Sevilla 2-0 Villarreal	Handball (Juan Foyth)

Out of the 68 penalties awarded in La Liga so far this season, 18 have been for handball.

Serie A PENALTIES

2020/21 SO FAR

Team	Date Given	Match	Cause of Pen
Juventus	27 Sept 2020	Roma 2-2 Juventus	Handball (Lorenzo Pellegrini)
Roma	27 Sept 2020	Roma 2-2 Juventus	Handball (Adrien Rabiot)
Sassuolo	3 Oct 2020	Sassuolo 4-1 Crotone	Handball (Simy)
Sampdoria	24 Oct 2020	Atalanta 1-3 Sampdoria	Handball (Johan Mojica)
Sassuolo	1 Nov 2020	Napoli 0-2 Sassuolo	Handball (Giovanni Di Lorenzo)
Juventus	1 Nov 2020	Spezia 1-4 Juventus	Handball (Paolo Bartolomei)
Lazio	1 Nov 2020	Torino 3-4 Lazio	Handball (Nicolas N'Koulou)
Lazio	6 Dec 2020	Sampdoria 1-2 Milan	Handball (Jakub Jankto)
Sassuolo	11 Dec 2020	Sassuolo 1-0 Benevento	Handball (Alessandro Tuia)
Inter	20 Dec 2020	Inter 2-1 Spezia	Handball (M'Bala Nzola)
Milan	23 Dec 2020	Milan 3-2 Lazio	Handball (Patric)
Napoli	3 Jan 2021	Cagliari 1-4 Napoli	Handball (Fabrizio Caligara)

Out of the 57 penalties awarded in Serie A so far this season, 12 have been for handball.

2020/21 SO FAR

Team	Date Given	Match	Cause of Pen
RB Leipzig	3 Oct 2020	RB Leipzig 4-0 Schalke	Handball (Matija Nastasic)
Gladbach	24 Oct 2020	Mainz 2-3 Gladbach	Handball (Moussa Niakhate)
Leverkusen	26 Oct 2020	Leverkusen 3-1 A'burg	Handball (R. Framberger)
Stuttgart	30 Oct 2020	Schalke 1-1 Stuttgart	Handball (Salif Sane)
Werder Bremen	6 Nov 2020	Bremen 1-1 Koln	Handball (Elvis Rexhbecaj)
Hoffenheim	8 Nov 2020	W'burg 2-1 Hoffenheim	Handball (Maxence Lacroix)
Wolfsburg	12 Dec 2020	W'burg 2-1 Frankfurt	Handball (Stefan Ilsanker)
Leverkusen	13 Dec 2020	Leverkusen 4-1Hoffenheim	Handball (H.Nordtveit)
Frankfurt	15 Dec 2020	Frankfurt 3-3 Gladbach	Handball (Stefan Lainer)
Freiburg	02 Jan 2021	Hoffenheim 1-3 Freiburg	Handball (Melayro Bogarde)

Out of the 52 penalties awarded in the Bundesliga so far this season, 10 have been for handball.

Why is it happening?

Now, players can be penalised for the slightest touch of the ball to the hand, no matter the situation, their body shape, or whether it was intentional.

After seeing his side concede a penalty against Everton to lose 2-1, Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson said what a lot of people were thinking; the handball rule is "nonsense".

"It's completely unacceptable. It's destroying my enjoyment of the game of football," he continued.

"I can't understand how everyone in the game - the Premier League, referees, managers and coaches - have allowed this rule to come into operation.

"I don't want to profit from it or lose from it."

There is certainly a lot more scrutiny on decisions nowadays due to VAR, while the handball rule seems so ridiculous that any decision penalty given for one is also highlighted more than other decisions.