Bellingham's equaliser for Madrid vs. Almeria draws handball controversy
There was no offside but there was a possible handball as the Englishman scored
Neither offside nor handball. The referee in the Almeria - Real Madrid match, Sánchez Martínez, validated Jude Bellingham's equaliser after the goal was checked by VAR.
Eduardo Prieto Iglesias, in the video referee's room, quickly drew the offside line, which Akieme broke, but did not send the referee to review a possible handball by the Madrid player.
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El posible fuera de juego de Bellingham
| DAZNBellingham clearly makes the gesture of controlling the ball with his arm. After the touch, he settled the ball and sent it into the back of the net. Neither the on-field referee nor the VAR saw anything punishable.
The rules state that "for the purposes of determining handball offences, the upper boundary of the arm is in line with the bottom of the armpit." From the footage, it seems pretty clear that the ball touched Bellingham at a point below the shirt cuff.
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La mano de Bellingham según las reglas
| SPORTMadrid equalised in the 18th minute after a goal by Sergio Arribas in the second minute.
The change of criteria in terms of hands is surprising, especially when compared to last matchday at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez, where the referee, Soto Grado, did review a handball by Gavi to end up disallowing a clear penalty on Ronald Araujo.
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