When is a touch with the hand or arm a handball offence?

Not every touch of the ball with the hand or arm is an offence. For deciding handball, the upper boundary of the arm is in line with the bottom of the armpit.

It is a direct free kick offence if a player:

• deliberately touches the ball with their hand or arm, for example by moving the hand or arm towards the ball; or
• touches the ball with a hand or arm that has made their body unnaturally bigger. That is when the position of the hand or arm is not a consequence of, or justifiable by, the player's body movement for that situation.

Goalkeepers have the same restrictions as any other player outside their penalty area. Inside it, a goalkeeper who handles the ball when not permitted is penalised with an indirect free kick.