Newcastle left fuming, Real Madrid baffled and Manchester United caught up in THREE incidents this season alone… Why are handball penalty decisions causing such a problem in the Champions League?
- Newcastle were the latest to feel aggrieved over contentious handball decision
- There is a discrepancy in how rules are interpreted in the Champions League
- Why it’s NEVER OK to cheer in the press box (even if England win the World Cup!) – Listen here to It’s All Kicking Off
Alan Shearer called it a ‘load of s***’ and a ‘disgusting decision’. Jermaine Jenas said Newcastle United ‘had been robbed’. Ally McCoist branded it a ‘disgrace’.
Their fury was completely understandable as Newcastle were denied a famous Champions League victory away to Paris Saint-Germain by the most contentious of penalty calls.
In the eighth minute of stoppage time, as they led courtesy of Alexander Isak’s first-half goal and Nick Pope’s superb saves, Ousmane Dembele’s cross struck Tino Livramento on the chest and then bounced onto his arm.
After consulting his pitchside monitor, referee Szymon Marciniak awarded a penalty that was converted by Kylian Mbappe to salvage PSG a point that could prove pivotal in deciding who makes the knockout rounds.
Newcastle’s palpable sense of outrage won’t be soothed by the revelation that UEFA chose not to implement recommendations on interpreting the handball law that would have denied PSG their spot-kick.
Paris Saint-Germain were awarded a penalty deep into injury time at the end of their Champions League clash with Newcastle after Tino Livramento was adjudged to have handled
Newcastle were mere minutes from a famous win in Paris to boost their last-16 chances
Referee Szymon Marciniak – who officiated the World Cup final in Qatar last year – awarded the penalty in light of stricter UEFA guidelines around officiating the handball law
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The problem lies in a disparity between the Premier League and the Champions League when it comes to handball penalty decisions.
The rules are much tighter in European competition and Newcastle are the latest victims.
Back in April, at the inaugural meeting of UEFA’s Football Board at their headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, a more lenient position on handball decisions was floated.
That would have brought it into line with the situation in England’s Premier League, where the stricter interpretation was dropped in 2020 after complaints from players and managers.
The Football Board – which features such famous names as Zinedine Zidane, Paolo Maldini, Fabio Capello and Petr Cech – recommended that ‘UEFA should clarify that no handball offence should be called on a player if the ball is previously deflected from his own body and, in particular, when the ball does not go towards the goal.’
However, UEFA decided not to change their stance and kept in place what is a literalist interpretation of the handball rules.
Even if the ball deflects off a player’s body onto their hand or arm – as happened with Livramento on Tuesday night – no allowance will be given and it will still be a penalty.
Kylian Mbappe equalised from the penalty spot in a blow to Newcastle’s qualification hopes
Referee Marciniak had to review the handball decision under pressure from noisy fans
It helps explain why we see more penalties awarded for handball in the Champions League compared to top domestic leagues across Europe.
According to ESPN, since the beginning of last season, 46 handball penalties have been awarded in 197 games – or 0.234 per game.
By comparison, this figure stands at 0.062 per game in the Premier League, 0.110 in Spain’s LaLiga and 0.099 in Germany’s Bundesliga.
So it’s little wonder what is effectively a two-track system between competitions is catching teams out. A universal interpretation of the handball laws isn’t available.
A similar incident to Livramento’s happened in Real Madrid’s 3-2 win away to Napoli back in October when the Italian team were awarded a penalty after the ball deflected onto Nacho’s hand as he slide tackled Victor Osimhen inside the box.
Real boss Carlo Ancelotti was nonplussed afterwards, saying: ‘It’s rebounded on to Nacho’s hand – you can’t cut your hand off! The rule says that on a rebound, you can’t give a penalty.’
That may be true in LaLiga but unfortunately that will be given in the Champions League.
Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti wasn’t best pleased after Nacho was penalised for handball against Napoli earlier in the Champions League group stage
As Real defender Nacho slid in on Napoli’s Victor Osimhen, the ball bounced up off his leg
The ball then rebounded up onto Nacho’s hand, leading to Napoli being awarded a penalty
Two penalty incidents occurred in Manchester United’s 4-3 defeat to FC Copenhagen earlier this month, when Harry Maguire was penalised for handball in first-half stoppage time.
The ball came up off the boot of Copenhagen’s Diogo Goncalves and struck Maguire on the arm at point-blank range.
In the Premier League, Maguire might have been reprieved because he was moving his body towards the ball at the time it brushed his arm. However, in Europe, he wasn’t so fortunate.
It led to Maguire speaking out to criticise ‘soft’ penalty awards. ‘They are making life so hard for defenders to defend the way it should be,’ he said.
‘You should be able to defend, you should be able to move your arm, you should be able to move your body, you should be able to make contact, you should be able to move your hands and get there.
‘Nowadays, penalties are given for everything. Absolutely for everything.’
Manchester United defender Harry Maguire wasn’t happy this handball decision went against him during their 4-3 Champions League defeat to Copenhagen
Maguire and Raphael Varane complain to the referee after the penalty is awarded
Later in that same match, however, United themselves were awarded a handball penalty with Maguire also involved and that too highlighted the difference between Premier League and UEFA competition.
Maguire’s downward header struck Lukas Lerager on the arm from very close range – literally a few inches. The referee initially allowed play to continue before VAR intervened.
In the Premier League, it’s unlikely the original on-field decision would have been overturned – indeed, Maguire got away with a similar one at Nottingham Forest earlier this year.
Allowance would be given for the defender stretching their arms out to gain leverage with which to compete aerially with an attacker.
It also appears from replays Maguire might have headed the ball against his own hand first and then onto Lerager’s arm, but that counts for nothing in the Champions League.
Later in the same match, United were awarded a penalty when Maguire headed the ball down onto the arm of Copenhagen’s Lukas Lerager
There were parallels with one Maguire got away with against Nottingham Forest in April
Christian Eriksen was penalised for a close quarters handball in United’s loss to Bayern Munich
United were also on the receiving end away to Bayern Munich – which also ended in a 4-3 loss – when Christian Eriksen was penalised for handling Dayot Upamecano’s header.
Again, referee Glenn Myberg didn’t originally award the spot-kick, giving it only after a VAR intervention.
Again, proximity was the gripe, with Eriksen a couple of feet away from the Bayern defender and debate too over whether he only had his arm outside the ‘natural position’ because he was jumping.
In the Group F encounter between PSG and Borussia Dortmund in September, Niklas Sule was caught up in two penalty incidents.
In the first-half, the ball deflected off Milan Skriniar into his midriff and then onto his arm. You’d think given UEFA’s strict interpretation this would be given but VAR decided against it.
Borussia Dortmund’s Niklas Sule got away with this ‘handball’ against Paris Saint-Germain
However, he did concede a penalty for this one despite Mbappe’s proximity to him
But in the second period, Mbappe’s attempted shot struck him on the hand at very close quarters and was given.
It was a decision that left Jamie Carragher, working on CBS Sports, baffled: ‘His hand was right next to his body. I can’t believe he has given that… but then you have VAR, so I can’t believe that hasn’t been overturned.’
Fellow pundit Micah Richards asked: ‘What is he supposed to do there? His hands are in a natural position. That’s one of the worst decisions I’ve seen.’
The picture that emerges is a murky one. Not only is there a different interpretation of handball rules between domestic and European competition but sometimes even within the Champions League too.
Little wonder players, coaches, fans and pundits are confused.
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