Premier League referees to place greater emphasis on holding in penalty area

Independent

5 hours ago

More penalties could be awarded in this season's Premier League with referees instructed to keep a close eye on holding in the box.
The PA news agency understands greater emphasis will be placed on holding in the 2025-26 campaign, in particular where officials consider it sustained and impactful.
Officials will give consideration to whether there is a clear impact on the opponent's ability to play or challenge for the ball, and where there is a clear, extreme action which impacts an opponent's movement.
Referees and VARs will also take note of whether the holding player's focus is on the ball or the opponent.
Last season, Nottingham Forest were awarded a penalty against Brighton after Tariq Lamptey was penalised for holding on to Morgan Gibbs-White, and referees will be on the lookout for similar offences in the new campaign.
Simulation will be another area of focus, with referees urged to book players who clearly attempt to deceive them. Referees will also immediately signal for doctors or physios to come on when a player appears to have suffered a head injury.
The player will leave the field for further assessment and remain on the touchline for a minimum of 30 seconds after the match has restarted.
Referee body cameras will be trialled in the Premier League this season, but sources indicated they would not be used until match round three at the earliest.
They will provide extra angles for broadcasters to use in their live coverage, but will not be used to replay controversial incidents.
As first reported by the PA news agency last month, referees will announce the outcome of VAR reviews except for factual offside and onside decisions.
The high bar for VAR intervention will be maintained this season, with 83 per cent of game stakeholders surveyed earlier this year – including players, managers, directors and supporters – supporting a continuation of the threshold.
There was also strong support for continuing to follow the same interpretation of handball offences, with 78 per cent thinking the level was correct.
Referees will not see it as a punishable offence if the arm is in a justifiable position, is supporting the player's body, where a player plays the ball on to their own arm, where there is a clear change of direction when touched by the same player, where the ball is played by a team-mate or where there is close proximity.
Handballs will be penalised where there is a deliberate movement of the arm away from the body, there is clear additional arm movement or the arm position makes the body bigger and is unjustifiable.
Only nine penalties were awarded for handball in the Premier League last season.
This will also be the first Premier League campaign since the introduction of the eight-second rule for goalkeepers holding on to the ball.
Referees will start to count down once the goalkeeper is in full control of the ball and is completely unobstructed by any opponent.
A corner will be awarded to the other team where goalkeepers exceed the eight-second limit, while any attacking player who pressures or prevents a goalkeeper from releasing the ball during the countdown will be penalised by the awarding of an indirect free-kick.