UCL: Newcastle handball VAR removed from Wednesday’s games

The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) who reviewed the penalty awarded to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) against Newcastle for a controversial handball has been removed from his Champions League game on Wednesday.

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 but reversed the decision after looking at the incident on the screen.

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

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

Speaking, Newcastle manager, Eddie Howe, said Marciniak should have been stronger to disregard Kwiatkowski’s advice.

Howe, in a television interview, said 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.

The Star