Joel Ward wants ‘teething issues’ with handball law corrected after conceding penalty in Palace defeat
Joel Ward believes there are ‘teething issues’ with the handball law and how it is applied by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).
The Crystal Palace defender was the latest victim of the stricter handball laws in the Eagles’ 2-1 defeat against Everton on Saturday – conceding the penalty with which Richarlison struck the winning goal.
The South Londoners won a penalty of their own last weekend when Manchester United’s Victor Lindelof was harshly adjudged to have handled Jordan Ayew’s shot. On that occasion, Wilfried Zaha scored the resultant spot-kick and Palace won 3-1.
“There’s certainly some teething issues so I think they need to get ironed out and they may need to look at how people move and the functionality of how people move with momentum,” Ward – who had made his 250th appearance for the Eagles – told Amazon Prime after the defeat at Selhurst Park.
“My thoughts are going to stay with myself. Everyone else can talk about them. We’ll just kind of get on with it, we’re going to realise that some will go for us and some will go against us, but I’d rather keep my thoughts to myself.
“Talking points? Other people can talk about them. Like I said, some are going to go against you, and some are going to go for you.”
