Football manager Ian Holloway makes bizarre Brexit claim that EU is responsible for handball rules

Holloway thinks that the European Union is to blame for the Premier League’s controversial new rule

Football manager Ian Holloway has claimed that the European Union is to blame for the Premier League’s divisive new handball law.

The rule has attracted plenty of criticism in the first two weeks of the season, particularly after Gabriel Jesus saw an injury time goal disallowed by the Video Assistant Referee because team-mate Aymeric Laporte was adjudged to have handled the ball.

However, until now nobody had singled out the EU to blame.

Appearing on The Debate show on Sky Sports alongside Geoff Shreeves and Kevin Phillips, Holloway said that he wants Great Britain to leave the EU as soon as possible because of his dislike for “people telling us how to do our own game”.

He said: “For me it doesn't make sense, the handball rule.

“If it's not handball for both, how can you assess that? And to be fair, is that clear and obvious? They forgot the most important thing of all. Their job is to not re-referee the game but to be clear and obvious, so I don't think that's our boys making up that new change of law.

“I think that's people telling us what we need to do with our game. Now, they should stop doing that.

“I hope we get out. Brexit. Because that's what people are voting for and [we need to] sort it out because you cannot have someone telling us how to do our own game.”

Holloway’s outburst was all the more bizarre considering that, not only is the EU not responsible for implementing domestic football laws, but the technical director of the board responsible is an English former referee.

The International Football Association Board presided over the new law and consists of eight members – four of whom are from the United Kingdom.