BEFORE going on to some of the other changes in the Laws of the Game which have taken place this season, I would like to return to one which I have already covered.

This is the abrasive subject of the penalising of accidental handball.

Many people have been upset about it.

For example, the captain of Wolverhampton Wanderers, Conor Coady, was said to be seething after his club had a supposedly good goal ruled out by VAR for accidental handball.

'We’ll have to play with our hands chopped off,’ he said. I’m not sure who he was angrier with, the new laws or VAR.

I think it worth pointing out this change in the Law only covers accidental handball which leads to the scoring of a goal.

This might be the ball going off the attacker’s hand or arm into the opponent’s goal.

It might be the accidental handball brings the ball under the control of the attacker, who can then score from it.

Both these situations have happened to me in the past and of course, I have had to allow the goal.

The other situation is, if the ball is deflected off an attacker’s hand or arm to a teammate, giving them the opportunity to score.

This is the one I think is most likely to be spotted by VAR rather than the referee or his assistant.

These are the only situations when accidental handball is penalised.

So, if the ball accidentally hits the hand or arm of a defender in the penalty area for example, it’s not a penalty.

Nor will it be in normal play where there is no chance of a goal being scored.

However, the definition of intentional handball, as well as ‘moving the hand or arm to the ball’ now includes a player putting his arms outwards making his body unnaturally bigger or by putting his hands or arms above the head.

The one exception to this is if the ball hits a player’s own hand or arm after he has headed it or otherwise played it.