Newcastle handball: The VAR who reviewed the controversial PSG handball penalty stepped down from Wednesday’s games.

Newcastle handball: The VAR who reviewed the controversial PSG handball penalty stepped down from Wednesday’s games.

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

Kwiatkowski had been scheduled to be the VAR in Wednesday’s Champions League match between Real Sociedad and Salzburg, but he has been replaced.

Newcastle appeared to be on course for a historic 1-0 victory at the Parc des Princes until a penalty was awarded against Tino Livramento, allowing Kylian Mbappe to equalize in the eighth and final minute of added time.

Former Tottenham manager Tim Sherwood called the decision “disgusting” on Soccer Special, while Newcastle manager Eddie Howe

said referee Marciniak should have been stronger in disregarding Kwiatkowski’s advice.

In a television interview, Howe stated that the referee was put under “extreme” pressure by the PSG players, and later labeled a decision that cost his team two crucial points “poor” in his post-match press conference.

Newcastle would have had their Champions League destiny in their own hands if they had won in Paris, but they now need to beat AC Milan in their final group game and hope Dortmund gets at least a point against PSG to advance to the knockout stages.

“I believe the fact that the VAR has been removed speaks volumes.” Isn’t it just not a penalty? If that happened in the Premier League, it would be covered for a month.

“It was amazing. And the reason it was incredible is that this guy is unquestionably a top referee. If you watch the game, you’ll notice that he was faultless for 96, 97 minutes.

“He was then alerted to something by someone else, which he hasn’t given on-field – quite correctly.” I’m not sure what he saw on the screen to change his mind.

“As I watched it, I was confident he’d say no, walk away, and stick to his guns.”

“The key issue is when you’re sent to the screen and the VAR believes you’ve made a clear and obvious error.” That must have been on your mind – did I miss something?

“However, you must keep in mind as you approach the screen that you are the one making the decision, and you retain all options.”

“He had the option of saying no, in my opinion. He’s going over his list of possibilities – is it a deliberate handball? Definitely not. Has it traveled a short distance at high speed? Without a doubt, yes. Is his arm in an awkward position? No way, because he’s in a running motion.

“But the important question is, has it left his body?” It strikes his chest before his elbow, and the gap between them is almost touching. He’s not going to get out of the way.”

The International Football Association Board (IFAB), which establishes world football’s laws, has laid out guidelines on what constitutes and does not constitute a handball offence – though leagues have their own individual interpretations, which you can read below.

In general, the upper boundary of the arm is in line with the bottom of the armpit when determining handball offenses. Not every contact between a player’s hand/arm and the ball constitutes an offense.