During Manchester United’s dominant 3-0 win over Athletic Bilbao, a controversial moment emerged when Alejandro Garnacho seemed to handle the ball right before United earned a penalty. That incident also saw Dani Vivian sent off and Bruno Fernandes converting from the spot. Despite the heated reaction, VAR did not overturn the decision—and now the reasoning has been officially clarified.
The ball hit Garnacho’s arm as he slipped, an unintentional contact that occurred before United launched an attack involving Noussair Mazraoui, who delivered the decisive cross. Many argued the handball should have canceled the penalty, but according to IFAB’s Laws of the Game, it didn’t qualify as an offense.
Law 12 states that a handball isn’t considered an infraction when the ball touches a player’s hand or arm after they play it with another body part—unless it directly results in a goal.
In this situation, Garnacho’s handball was ruled accidental and not directly linked to the goal-scoring play. Since he didn’t score or make the final pass, VAR had no grounds to intervene.
