Tottenham controversy analysed by expert – ‘This is never going to go away’
Paul Robinson fears there will always be inconsistency regarding the handball rule after controversial decisions involving Tottenham and Arsenal on Saturday.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former Spurs and England number one said handball decisions are “sadly down to opinion” and can’t be solved by VAR.
Arsenal were denied a penalty in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Brentford after Cedric Soare‘s strike was blocked by the arm of Yoane Wissa.
In the late kick off, Tottenham’s Cristian Romero was penalised for a similar incident.
Man City scored from the resulting penalty but the decision ultimately had no effect on the outcome of the game with Antonio Conte’s side 3-2 winners.
Robinson suggested there will never be total agreement on the handball rule.
“The decisions are inconsistent,” he told Football Insider.
“But I fear we are always going to see inconsistency when it comes to handballs.
“It is a matter of opinion. Players, managers, pundits and journalists could sit for hours and talk about handballs and you won’t get the same opinion at the end of it. Football is a game of opinions.
“VAR was brought in to eliminate mistakes but it does not take out the subjective nature of decisions. In certain circumstances, referees will disagree with each other. It is down to interpretation. That is never going to go away.
“Technology works for decisions like offsides but sadly with handballs it is down to opinion.”
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