Oh, absolutely. I'm not saying, (and have never said), that there is no truth in the suggestion that the guy may have been extending his arms front and back to block the ball. All I've ever said is that, from the video, it's impossible to tell and that his movement looks quite natural, as evidenced by the pictures of other sportsmen extending a limb forward. Of course, all the tennis players front legs are also extending forward, aren't they.
Can I just say, in passing, that I'm not clear what the word 'defensible' means in this context. Nobody is 'attacking' the guy... we're just saying the call he made was incorrect in this instance. He also made other excellent calls in the same match.
First, thank you for a rational response. Second, I don't disagree with you. I've never said that the handling should be called. My point is that I don't think this was a "bad call" even if I disagree with it. IMHO, players know the rule and are getting very good at blocking balls with arms that appear to be natural movements. IMHO, high level officials are catching on to this. As you see in this still, the player is running and arm is moving naturally. However, he then squares the chest and brings his arm up and out in what can be interpreted as an exaggerated "natural movement". My only point is this: We know all the officials at this level know the handling law. We know all the officials at this level know how to apply the law. Thus, if this official thought it was a handling offense, it was because he saw an unnatural movement. I'm pointing out what that could be. In fact, I wouldn't be shocked if FIFA didn't tell them to keep an eye out for the unnatural natural moves. This ref saw something that he believed fit the definition of handling. I don't know what I'd have called. I also don't know how they were instructed. My point is, I don't think we can call it "bad".
Well, those are stills, aren't they SB. We can't see how his arms are 'moving'. Just where they are at one moment in time whilst they're moving. Unfortunately the vid doesn't seem to run for me for some reason and will only play at some unspecified point in the future. I'll have a look when it does, hopefully in the not too distant future.
Fair enough. And you make a good point, which we've glazed over this whole tournament - we don't know what the specific instructions were for these referees. We have made assumptions (keeps the cards low, headbutts get straight reds, etc) but we really have no idea. As with most of the controversial calls this WC most of us in this forum can understand why the call was made even if we disagree with it. I'm sure we've all made this call at one time or another, so I don't want to be too hard on him, but I would expect a no call on this one.