Matt Holland:
It was clear handball. But the rules of football dictate that there is one person authorised to stop the game and award a free kick. And that person is not Luis Suarez.
I think he knew he’d done it, the way he smashed the ball into the net and then looked straight at the linesman. I also don’t think he did it on purpose, not like Maradona or Thierry Henry.
Cheating is one thing: I can’t stand diving and I’ve called on many occasions for retrospective punishments for those who try to dupe a referee. Trying to get the rub of the green is another and as a player you are always told to play to the whistle which is exactly what Suarez did.
I know that probably in every game I played I asked the referee to give a decision in my favour when consciously or unconsciously I knew I’d had the last touch before the ball rolled off the field.
You can’t blame players for that. What would I do in a situation like today’s? I don’t know, you never know until you are there but I do know that it’s irrelevant whether it’s an FA Cup third round or a World Cup final if you’re a professional player.
So do we have to allow players like Suarez to get away with it? Absolutely not, but the answer is not giving individuals morality lessons but giving officials the tools to tackle the problem.
Video technology, like that used in rugby, could have cleared up the ‘goal’ in no more than a minute.
That’s what we should be clamouring for, not some kind of modern day village stocks to vilify professionals who are put under intense pressure to deliver every Saturday.
PS Another question that needs tackling is a clarification of the handball law. The idea of intent is impossible for referees to judge. Maybe it’s time to say if the ball hits the arm or hand it’s a foul, at least you could be consistent that way.
