UEFA stands down VAR after PSG handball penalty vs. Newcastle

The VAR who awarded Paris Saint-Germain’s controversial penalty against Newcastle United in the Champions League was dismissed by UEFA during a Wednesday night match.

Polish VAR Tomasz Kwiatkowski sent referee Szymon Marciniak to the pitchside monitor in the 96th minute of Tuesday’s match after the ball hit Tino Livramento’s arm.

Marciniak reversed his decision and awarded PSG a penalty, converted by Kylian Mbappé to give the home side a crucial 1-1 draw that left qualification for the last 16 in the control of the French club.

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Kwiatkowski was expected to act as VAR for Wednesday’s encounter between Real Sociedad and FC Salzburg, but that role will now be taken on by German official Marco Fritz.

The deputy VAR, the Croatian Ivan Bebek, was also dismissed. He had been named for Wednesday’s match between Benfica and Inter Milan, and he was replaced by another German assistant, Bastian Dankert.

This indicates that UEFA believes the decision to advise the penalty was an error by Kwiatkowski, which could have serious implications for Newcastle’s hopes of reaching the last 16.

In the 71st minute of the match, the ball hit the arm of Newcastle’s Lewis Miley in similar circumstances, but VAR did not intervene.

However, although the ball deflected off Livramento’s body before hitting his arm, that was not enough to warrant a penalty. The position of Livramento’s arms was not far from his body and was a consequence of his body movements, so it should not have been a handball infraction.

In April, the UEFA Football Council, a group of former players and coaches which acts as an advisory body, said deviations from the body to the arm should not be penalized. However, this recommendation was not implemented as it would go against the IFAB’s guidelines for handball law as a general exemption.