What would VAR say about Kyle Lafferty's Kilmarnock penalty award as IFAB rules leave wiggle room

The striker won a spot kick after blasting a shot towards goal that hit Dundee United's Liam Smith on the arm.

It hopefully will be a thing of the past after Friday, but there was another controversial decision in Tuesday night’s Premier Sports Cup quarter-final.

Kilmarnock hosted Dundee United at Rugby Park, with the two Premiership strugglers vying for a place in the semi-finals and the trip to Hampden that comes with it. And it was the hosts who made a bright start, taking the lead after just eight minutes, but it was down to a hotly contested penalty.

Kyle Lafferty saw his shot cannon back off Liam Smith's arm inside the penalty area. There was little the United defender could do to get out of the way, and even had his back turned when attempting to either block or get out of the way of the Northern Irishman's powerful effort. But ref Kevin Clancy didn;t hesitate in blowing his whistle and pointing to the spot, much to the dismay of Smith and his Tangerines teammates.

Lafferty made no mistake from the spot, confidently slotting past Carljohan Ericsson. His joy was short-lived however, as the visitors went up the park and equalised less than two minutes later. Glenn Middleton curled a fine finish past Zach Hemmings to restore parity and from a United perspective, cancel out the injustice that was done to them on the other penalty area.

But do they have a point? Clancy only got one look, whereas in a few days’ time, all top flight refs will have the back up of VAR, along with an assistant video referee, to review their on-field calls and rectify clear and obvious errors.

The handball rule has caused chaos, particularly down south, with some accidental infringements being penalised and others not, leaving managers, players and fans alike tearing their hair out. According to IFAB, it is an offence if a player:

• Deliberately touches the ball with their hand/arm, for example moving the hand/arm towards the ball
• Touches the ball with their hand/arm when it has made their body unnaturally bigger. A player is considered to have made their body unnaturally bigger when the position of their hand/arm is not a consequence of, or justifiable by, the player’s body movement for that specific situation
• Scores in the opponents’ goal; directly from their hand/arm, even if accidental, including by the goalkeeper, or, immediately after the ball has touched their hand/arm, even if accidental

It’s fair to fair to say Smith didn't handle on purpose given he wasn’t even looking at the ball. The last bullet points also doesn’t apply.

But the second is what could give Clancy justification. Smith’s arm wasn’t tucked in by his side, in front of his body or behind his back. But whose is when twisting to face in the opposite direction?

The former Hearts full back did make his body bigger, but there’s more than a bit of doubt over whether it was done ‘unnaturally’. Those of a Killie persuasion will say he's bang to rights, while Liam Fox will no doubt ask what else his man could have done. If Var looks at it, there's probably as many refs who would give it as would wave play on.

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