Denying what they perceived as a clear penalty on August 18 left Chelsea players and fans seething with frustration.
In their opening match of the 2024–2025 season, Chelsea hosted Manchester City at Stamford Bridge.
In the 18th minute, Erling Haaland scored his first goal of the season by chipping the ball over Robert Sanchez.
As Enzo Maresca sought to make an impression in his debut competitive match as manager, Chelsea grew more confident as the game continued.
The handball incident involving Mateo Kovacic against Chelsea
Chelsea made some modest appeals for a penalty, mostly led by Enzo Fernandez, but referee Anthony Taylor remained firm.
Their strongest appeal came in the second half when Matteo Kovacic’s flailing arm made contact with an attempted pass from Malo Gusto. Despite protests from the home supporters and Chelsea players, Taylor did not award a penalty.
Why was Chelsea not awarded a penalty for Kovacic’s handball?
The footage showed that the ball hit the underside of Kovacic’s arm, which led to a review of the football regulations. According to IFAB Law 12, a handball is defined as:
“If a player’s hand or arm makes contact with the ball in a way that makes their body appear unnaturally large, it is considered illegal. If the positioning of the hand or arm does not align with, or is not justifiable by, the player’s body movement in that situation, the player is deemed to have made their body unnaturally larger.”
Although Kovacic’s arm was not in a natural position, he was not penalized because the proximity of the ball to his arm at the moment of contact was considered. According to the referee’s judgment, the proximity rule assesses whether the player had enough time to move their arm into a natural position before the ball hit it.
“Officials take into account the proximity of the ball to the player’s hand or arm when deciding whether to award a penalty for handball,” according to a Premier League statement.
After Kovacic scored Manchester City’s second goal shortly thereafter, Chelsea’s opening game of the season became even more challenging.
