West Bromwich Albion star Aune Heggebo has received a two-match ban after scoring a goal with his arm – but the retrospective decision has incensed supporters online. Heggebo netted the effort during the Baggies’ 2-1 win against Norwich at Carrow Road on Saturday, when he bundled in a cross from new signing Jimmy-Jay Morgan after the ball struck his left arm. Norwich players surrounded referee Tim Robinson – who had missed the incident – to protest the handball, but the goal stood with no further intervention from the officials. Days later, however, and West Brom were unable to overturn the FA charge that Heggebo had ‘successfully deceived a Match Official by handling the ball in a direct successful attempt to score a goal’. The 25-year-old is now set to serve a two-match suspension for the offence, which is believed to be the first of its kind in English football since a 2024-25 rule change. But fans on social media suggested that the punishment did not quite fit the ‘crime’, claiming instead that officials were at greater fault than the Norwegian striker. Aune Heggebø’s goal for West Bromwich Albion against Norwich City has fuelled controversy over an alleged handball.Should the goal have stood? ? pic.twitter.com/TcKQ4ctV9N— ITV Football (@itvfootball) August 15, 2026 Fans have hit out at the decision to penalise Aune Heggebo for his handball goal on Saturday’Not sure about that at all,’ one fan wrote. ‘It’s the officials’ fault for not spotting it. ‘The lack of VAR comes with clangers like this, which will always be a major talking point but that’s a very dangerous precedent to be setting.’Another added: ‘This is an absolute disgrace. A ban because the officials can’t do their job. Wow.’A third agreed: ‘2 game ban because refs are pony. Blows my mind how much protection they get ( feels good being able to say this now ).’ ‘A player has been banned because the officials failed to spot a handball for a goal,’ another supporter commented. ‘Joke.’ West Brom had first appealed the charge on Wednesday, with their statement published after the charge was upheld explaining that their claim had been that ‘the ball took a deflection from the goalkeeper immediately before making contact with Heggebo’s arm, which materially affected the ball’s trajectory and left him with less than 0.1 of a second to react. ‘Given the accidental nature of the handball, the club argued it could not be reasonably viewed as a deliberate act of deception,’ the statement added. West Brom also threw their continued support behind their player, going on to add: ‘We remain steadfast in our support of Aune, whose character and integrity have been evident throughout his time at The Hawthorns.’ At full-time after the match, Norwich manager Philippe Clement also reserved blame for the officials. ‘It was clearly with the arm that the player scores – we could see that from where we were watching, 50 yards away,’ Clement said after the game. ‘It was the decisive moment in the game and should have been spotted.’There are four officials and one of them should have seen it. Maybe the referee didn’t have the best view – but the linesman on our side needs to see that. ‘Missing game-changing moments like this shouldn’t happen – it has cost us at least two, maybe three points.’