Handball situations in Netherlands - Denmark

Slovenian referee Damir Skomina was in charge of the third match at this UEFA EURO when the Netherlands were defeated by Denmark and had to cope with two handball incidents that were subjects of debate in the aftermath of the match, as they could have entailed penalty kicks which were however not awarded by Skomina. 
The respective World of Football Refereeing observer has evaluated the first occasion as a correct call made by the referee, but emphasized that the second occasion should have been ruled as an infringement, which would have meant a penalty kick to the Netherlands in the 90th minute.

First of all, one should take into account how FIFA Laws of the Game are defining a deliberate handball offence which may be punished as an infringement.

Consequently, FIFA Laws of the Game state that "handling the ball involves a deliberate act of a player making contact with the ball with his hand or arm. The referee must take the following into consideration:

• the movement of the hands towards the ball (not the ball towards the hand)
• the distance between the opponent and the ball (unexpected ball)
• the position of the hand does not necessarily mean that there is an infringement"

Several instructions also pay attention to the pace with which the ball was approaching as well as the question of whether the position of the hand was natural or not. Negligence is not to be considered.

On the basis of stills, the situations should be evaluated:

First situation: Simon Poulsen touches the ball with his hand (also observed by AAR1 Vinčić, minute 28'):

It becomes clear in the first and second freeze frames that Poulsen was surprised by getting the ball in this situation, which is indicated by him having stopped quite abruptly in screenshot 2. He has the ball in his area of vicinity and turns around to immediately commence a counterattack. As part of his natural cursorial movement, he touches the ball clearly with his hand (5). Even though the ball was pretty calculable, it is still no clear intentional or deliberate act of handling the ball. In addition, the position of Poulsen's right hand is natural, so that the decision not to award a penalty kick was correct. 

Second situation: Jacobsen is touching the ball with his hand twice in a duel with Dutch striker Huntelaar (also observed by AAR2 Matej Jug, minute 90'):

At the beginning, Jacobsen is approaching with quite a high pace and has to stop harshly. His left hand is in a natural position (2) and does not move towards the ball. It is therefore no deliberate act, it is also adventurous to certify him intention here.

The second touch has been the result of a short distance, the ball was played with high pace. His hand position seems to be very unnatural, but could be also part of a natural procedure to hold the balance. Nonetheless, the hand has certainly no place in this height and position. Huntelaar's trial to pit against Jacobsen was interrupted by that a second time. Moreover, the hand slightly moved towards the ball. It could have been - perhaps, it even should have been penalized with a penalty kick by Slovenian official Skomina. Therefore, an at least doubtful decision, but also a doubtful situation. Benefit of the doubt.. 

pictures: UEFA