Gosh, the instruction I got with that Law change was that they didn't encroach until their feet hit the ground in the PA. Someone specifically asked about players timing a jump into the area, and the response was that this was legal as long as the ball was struck before any part of the non-PK-taking player touched the ground in the PA. And it clearly appears that North Macedonia is playing as if that is *their* understanding as well. All that said, my instruction could have been wrong. It *has* happened before. And yes, I agree that if that's the case, we should expect some pretty farcical PKs.
I watch at least some Libertadores and South American soccer on Fubo. I have to imagine an Argentine getting to work the Euros would be a breath of fresh air after seeing some of the hijinks in those South American matches.
So I can't find this. I remember it as well, but can't find it within the Laws. Am I missing it or was it a separate instruction/finding?
Excellent, thank you. Kind of feel like this is a little-known cousin of the "accidental handball" mistake IFAB made relative to VAR. What I mean is that this provision would have been absolutely fine prior to VAR and is fine in matches without VAR, because it dissuades officials from calling encroachment unless it is obvious (just like with the original "accidental handball provision, it was fine because in non-VAR matches, it would only have been called if it was obvious) even if it theoretically invites some farcical attempts to avoid the encroachment call. But with VAR and with the specific instructions for VAR to look at PK encroachment... well, now breaking the plane is not enough. A VAR has to be sure the plane is broken and a body part is touching the ground. Overhead cameras aren't enough to prove the latter and looking through bodies can mean the former is difficult to prove with the cameras that do show ground level. It just seems like an attempt to make things slightly less complicated for non-VAR matches made things a lot more complicated for VAR matches. And that's where the world will notice.
Why, oh why, does IFAB think it makes sense to put things like this in the glossary? It's almost like they want it to be confusing . . . it's hard enough to get new refs to really read the Laws themselves without burying stuff that matters in the glossary . . . I'm not sure it will be that difficult. I'm assuming that the big stage VARs have at least as good of technology as MLS, along with a lot more camera feeds. I would imagine that being able to time stamp the kick on one and look at the matching frames from the others to get a definitive view. And if it isn't definitive, then I would think all the people complaining about armpit OS would be happy to just see the goal stand if its that close . . .
EURO 2020 RAP is out from UEFA. I'm looking through it and this is the first interesting one I've come to. UEFA says handball, VAR intervention was correct, and no misconduct. It's the clip at 5:45 for those who need a refresher.