Having just seen it affect my team in the opening rounds of the Premier League and also as a defender myself, I feel that modern rules restrict defenders from actually doing their job: defending. Regarding 'handballs' inside the penalty box, referees and VAR have recently, in my opinion, failed to do it's job. I believe that when one's hand is next to or behind one's body, it should never be deemed a handball, regardless of the circumstances.

This is my view of everything from a defender's perspective: How am I, as a defender, to do my job of stopping the ball from reaching the goal if the rules specifically restrict me from doing so? I, who am paid tens and even hundreds of thousands of pounds every week to defend, am not being allowed to do so. If the ball is flying past me towards the goal, surely I am expected to try and block it? I am playing in this league, the best league in the world with the best players because I am a defender of the highest calibre. If I didn't attempt to block the shot, I shouldn't and wouldn't be here, at this level of the sport. How am I to judge in a split-second, that when I move to block the ball coming at me at tens of kilometers an hour, that it will bounce off of my upper shoulder and not my chest? Again, if I can't know, am I just expected to not try and block the shot? That goes against everything I am paid to do, everything that the fans are supporting me, my club and this league for. It feels as if the referees expect me to suddenly lose arms, but I can't, they're a part of me, and there's nothing I can do about them.

A revision to the rule regarding handballs should go somewhat like this: if the offending player has kept their arm by their side, attached to their body from their shoulder to their hand, or has kept their arms behind their back, and are attempting to block the shot with their body, any contact between the ball and their arm should not be considered handball. Regarding handballs when the arm is by the defender's side, their arm does not have to keep contact with their body, so long as it is within an inch of distance of their body. It is natural for a defender to struggle to keep their arms nearby them when charging forward, so such small leniency should be given. To help referees determine a handball, one good indicator would be the offender's armpit. If their armpit is clenched shut, then in all likelihood they have made every attempt to keep their arm next to or behind their body and it won't be a handball. If their armpit joint is clearly open, then a handball must be given. A player who has stayed within these rules cannot be deemed to have "leaned into the ball with their arm" as the arm is now considered a part of their body.

This, in my opinion, makes sense, as a defender can't simply lose an arm when diving to block a shot, and it feels as if the arm is just a part of my body mass which attempted to block the shot, as it was always connected with my body.

One other small gripe with modern refereeing is a tendency to call weak fouls because they didn't properly see what had happened. While I understand the sentiment, and actually believe the referees often do a remarkable job with this under pressure, more often than not I would rather see a referee call play-on unless informed otherwise by their linesmen. If the resulting call to play-on results in a goal, or the foul was severe enough to recommend a sending off, then VAR can request a pause in the game for the referee to review the decision. Calling fouls like they can do always ends up restricting the flow of the game and angers a wide majority of fans and viewers.

Referees should also take into consideration their original perspective from the ground when reviewing VAR decisions at the box, as the offense almost always looks worse than it really was. A VAR view from the box should never be viewed alone but with all the previous knowledge and perspective of the referee beforehand, otherwise the offense looks unimaginably worse out of context.

I plan to send this petition to the English FA, FIFA, IFAB, and wherever else it may be accepted in order to spark an investigation into modern refereeing laws and potentially bring about a change to the handball rules along the lines which I have suggested.