Newcastle handball: VAR who reviewed controversial handball penalty for PSG stood down from Wednesday’s games

The VAR who reviewed the penalty awarded to PSG against Newcastle for a controversial handball has been stood down from his game on Wednesday, Sky Sports News understands.

Tomasz Kwiatkowski asked referee Szymon Marciniak to go to the screen after the review which looked into a potential handball by Tino Livramento – the referee did not give the penalty on-field, but reversed the decision after looking at the incident on the screen.

Kwiatkowski was due to be the VAR in Wednesday’s Champions League game between Real Sociedad and Salzburg but has now been replaced.

Newcastle looked to be heading for a famous 1-0 win at the Parc des Princes until the penalty was awarded against Tino Livramento, allowing Kylian Mbappe to level in the eighth and final minute of added time.

Speaking on Soccer Special, former Spurs manager Tim Sherwood labelled the decision “disgusting” while Newcastle boss Eddie Howe said referee Marciniak should have been stronger to disregard Kwiatkowski’s advice.

Howe said in a television interview the referee had been placed under “extreme” pressure by the PSG players, and later labelled a decision which cost his side two precious points “poor” in his post-match press conference.

Had Newcastle won in the French capital they would have had their Champions League destiny in their own hands, but now must beat AC Milan in their final group game and hope Dortmund get at least a point against PSG to progress to the knockout stages.

What is the handball law?

IFAB’s laws state…

For the purposes of determining handball offences, the upper boundary of the arm is in line with the bottom of the armpit. Not every touch of a player’s hand/arm with the ball is an offence.

It is an offence if a player:

• deliberately touches the ball with their hand/arm, for example moving the hand/arm towards the ball
• touches the ball with their hand/arm when it has made their body unnaturally bigger. A player is considered to have made their body unnaturally bigger when the position of their hand/arm is not a consequence of, or justifiable by, the player’s body movement for that specific situation. By having their hand/arm in such a position, the player takes a risk of their hand/arm being hit by the ball and being penalised
• scores in the opponents’ goal: Directly from their hand/arm, even if accidental, including by the goalkeeper or immediately after the ball has touched their hand/arm, even if accidental

Analysis: Shocking call denies Newcastle

Sky Sports’ Adam Bate:

Paris Saint-Germain scored with their 30th shot of the game and a number of those were clear opportunities so Newcastle could well have been punished earlier than they were. But it was the manner of the equaliser, a gift from the officials, that will so grate.

Mbappe did not breach the Newcastle back line with a bit of brilliance. He was handed the ball and able to convert from the penalty spot not because of a Newcastle error either. Just a desperately cruel penalty call that required a VAR review to make it happen.

The decision to award a spot-kick for the ball striking Livramento’s arm after bouncing there via his chest would have been inexplicable regardless – there was nothing unnatural about his body shape. It is called running. But it was even stranger given earlier events.