Atalanta coach Gasperini: Cut players’ arms to avoid handballs

Jul 13, 2020 06:00 am

The only way for players to avoid giving away penalties for handball under current rules is to cut off their arms, an angry Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini said after his team drew 2-2 at Juventus yesterday morning (Singapore time).

Gasperini saw his side lead twice through Duvan Zapata and Ruslan Malinovskyi, but they also gave away two penalties, both for handball, which were converted by Cristiano Ronaldo.

Both handballs were accidental, as first Marten de Roon and then Luis Muriel were struck at point-blank range but, because of the position of their arms, the referee had little option but to award a spot-kick each time.

"Those are the rules, well, at least, in Italy. What do we do, cut off the player's arms?... We need to change the way we interpret the rules," said Gasperini.

"I'm very happy with the performance and very disappointed not to have won."

The draw kept Atalanta third in the table, nine points behind Serie A leaders Juventus, with six games remaining. - REUTERS