Howard Webb has committed to enforcing stricter rules against holding in the penalty area this season. He emphasized a consistent approach rather than a temporary spike in penalties. Feedback from captains and other stakeholders indicated that holding was not sufficiently penalized. Webb clarified that referees should only call extreme actions, especially when one player clearly drags another to the ground. VAR will assist in identifying cases that meet these criteria to ensure appropriate officiating.
Webb explained that after speaking to captains and other stakeholders in the game that it was felt grappling, or holding, inside the area wasn't been penalised enough.
We've been seeking feedback from stakeholders in the game... saying we think that you need to penalize [holding] a little bit more in certain circumstances.
Holding happens in different places within the penalty area -- sometimes on the ball, sometimes off the ball and it varies in terms of extremes.
What we've said to the officials is if you get one of those situations where one player is clearly dragging another one to the floor in an extreme non-football action, even if it's off the ball, we expect the referee to see it.
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