FA bans West Brom striker Aune Heggebo for two matches over handball goal

The Football Association has banned West Bromwich Albion striker Aune Heggebo for two matches after deciding he successfully deceived a match official when scoring with his hand against Norwich City. BBC Sport reported that Heggebo was charged with misconduct under FA Rule E3.1 on Tuesday, with the sanction announced on Thursday.

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The incident occurred with 15 minutes remaining in the Championship season opener at Carrow Road and the score at 0-0. Jimmy Jay-Morgan sent a cross through the six-yard box, where the ball struck Heggebo's hand and went into the net. Referee Tim Robinson and his assistants allowed the goal despite protests from Norwich's players.

Jay-Morgan later doubled West Brom's lead before Mathias Kvistgaarden scored a 90th-minute goal for Norwich, leaving Albion with a 2-1 victory. The Championship does not use the Video Assistant Referee system, so the handball was not reviewed during the game. BBC Sport described Heggebo as the first player charged under the FA's deception provision, which was introduced in the 2017-18 season.

West Brom argued in Heggebo's defence that the ball deflected off Norwich goalkeeper Vladan Kovacevic before hitting the forward's hand. The club said that change in trajectory gave him less than one-tenth of a second to react and maintained that the contact was accidental rather than a deliberate attempt to mislead the officials. West Brom has said it will ask the FA for guidance on how a player should be expected to respond in comparable circumstances.

According to BBC Sport, the FA can act retrospectively when an official may have been deceived, but the process is intended for cases supported by overwhelming evidence of intentional deception rather than debatable decisions. The governing body provided little public reasoning beyond its factual announcement of the punishment, leaving the club's account and the disciplinary finding in conflict.

Heggebo will miss West Brom's home Championship match against Burnley on Sunday and the Carabao Cup second-round visit to Newcastle United next Wednesday. He is due to be available again for the league trip to Middlesbrough on August 29. The Norwegian joined West Brom from SK Brann for an undisclosed fee in July 2025.