Ally McCoist has continued to voice his frustration over the penalty awarded to Celtic in the closing stages of the Old Firm draw, insisting that decisions like this one are harming the game.
The spot kick was given after Dujon Sterling was penalised for handball when Daizen Maeda’s goal-bound header struck his arm in the final moments at Ibrox. Former referee Chris Foy had already gone head-to-head with McCoist on the subject, telling talkSPORT that after watching the footage several times he was in agreement with the decision. That has done nothing to soften McCoist’s position.Speaking on talkSPORT two days after the match, McCoist was still exercised by the call, arguing to co-host Gabby Agbonlahor that nobody has been able to explain to him what Sterling was supposed to do differently. He pushed back on the notion that the arm was in an unnatural position, saying Sterling was simply playing football and had no idea the ball was about to hit him. His solution was straightforward: bring the word intentional back into the law.
Agbonlahor was equally frustrated, saying common sense has left the game entirely. He argued that everyone instinctively knows what deliberate handball looks like, and that Sterling’s situation bore no resemblance to it. Both men agreed that the current application of the rule is draining enjoyment from the sport.The difficulty for McCoist is that the law as it currently stands does not support his argument. Under IFAB’s Law 12, a handball offence occurs when a player’s hand or arm makes their body unnaturally bigger, and where the position of the arm is not justifiable by the player’s movement in that specific moment. By placing their arm in such a position, the player is deemed to have accepted the risk of contact. Sterling’s arm met that definition, and Maeda’s header was on target before it was deflected. On the letter of the law, it was a penalty, and the officials got it right.
McCoist’s frustration is understandable, and the broader debate about intent in handball decisions is a legitimate one. But on this particular occasion, the rules as written left the referee with no alternative.