In Chelsea’s 3-1 win over Crystal Palace last month, Chelsea should not have been awarded a penalty when Joao Pedro’s shot was blocked by the arm of Jeddy Canwater.

The independent Critical Match Incident Panel, which reviews every match, is made up of five people – three former players and coaches, and an official from the PGMO and the Premier League.

In this case, they agreed that the penalty was wrong.

With Chelsea leading 2-0 just an hour before kick-off at Selhurst Park, referee Darren England deemed Pedro’s shot was not a handball when it hit the Crystal Palace defender and allowed play to continue. But then VAR Matt Donoghue asked England for an on-field review, which lasted nearly two minutes.

In the end, Darren England overturned the original decision and awarded a penalty kick. Enzo Fernandez scored from the penalty kick to make the score 3-0.

The KMI panel has now concluded that the original on-field decision was correct and VAR should not have intervened to recommend a penalty.

There are two reasons for this. First, Canwart didn’t make his body unnaturally large, nor did his arms sit in an unnatural position. Second, the panel found a small deflection of Canwart’s hip before the ball struck Canwart’s arm, which provided further relief.

A similar incident occurred on Saturday when Brentford were awarded a penalty for handball by Jacob Murphy. Murphy’s arm stayed close to his body again, blocking Matthias Janssen’s shot. Likewise, Murphy didn’t move his arm toward the ball on purpose. But on-field referee Andy Madeley awarded a penalty and VAR saw no reason to intervene.

Are Murphy’s arms further away from his body than Canwart, making his body unnaturally larger? perhaps. And there is no deflection on the arm. So maybe Brentford’s incident against Newcastle was “more” a penalty than Chelsea’s incident against Crystal Palace.

“Handball is a problematic and subjective refereeing decision”

The fact that we use phrases like “more punishment” hits at the heart of the matter. Handball is a problematic and subjective refereeing decision, with a sliding scale between a penalty and a non-penalty.

This is one of the hardest questions to explain for both match officials and fans alike. Part of the reason is that the interpretation of what is and is not handball varies from game to game.

In UEFA matches, referees are told that a penalty should be awarded when the ball hits a defender’s arm. In the Premier League, match officials have more discretion so that they can apply the usual parameters when considering handball: Was it a direct hit to the arm or was there any deflection? Are the defender’s arms in a natural position, or are they holding their arms away from their body and making their body larger? Does the defensive player move his arm toward the ball?

At the start of this Premier League season, the PGMO told all supporters that they would take a “less is more” approach to handball, with greater leniency being granted for unintentional handball. This is what the club and the fans want, the overwhelming feeling.

The laws of handball have changed dramatically since the original rules were written over 150 years ago. The first recognized rules of football, in 1863, allowed players to catch the ball – as long as it was a “fair catch” and the ball didn’t bounce – and at this stage in the game’s development, the lines between football and “rugby” became blurred. By 1870, any possession of the ball was prohibited until a year later, when the specific position of the goalkeeper was introduced – in 1871, goalkeepers were the only players allowed to touch the ball with their hands, as long as they were in their own half.

It wasn’t until 1912 that the law changed, restricting goalkeepers to keeping the ball within their own “box.”

Any changes to the rules regarding handball can only be made by the International Football Association Board once a year. But interpretations of handball rules are often tweaked to try to make them more acceptable to clubs and fans. Inevitably, they become more complex.

The current IFAB handball law is explained in 263 words. The definition of “arm” has been clarified in the PL manual, stating that “the upper boundary of the arm is consistent with the bottom of the armpit.”