Newcastle was on the verge of winning three points when the ball stuck defender Tino Livramento’s chest and bounced onto his arm. On-field referee Szymon Marciniak initially waved off the decision. But then Marciniak stopped the game afterwards, and after having a chat with Kwiatkowski, he went to the monitor and then awarded a spot-kick to the French club.
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“It wasn’t the right decision in my opinion,” said Newcastle Manager Eddie Howe after the game.
“It was a ricochet that when it is slowed down looks completely different to the live event. The ball hits his chest first, comes up and hits his hand. But his hand is not in an unnatural position, it is down by his side but he is in a running motion,” he added.
When should be a handball offence called?
A UEFA panel of storied coaches and former players said in April 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.” The advice to be given to match officials this season was detailed by the panel, chaired by UEFA Chief of Football Zvonimir Boban, in an April 25 statement headlined “UEFA Football Board urges more clarity on handball rule.”
The handball rule, for example, will always be disputed, but we can make it more consistent and aligned with the game’s true nature,” Boban, the former Croatia and AC Milan great, said in April. The current laws of the game allow for handballs to be penalized even if the contact was not intentional and after a deflection if a defender’s arm is judged to be in an unnatural position.
(Inputs from Agency)
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