Sickening update from UEFA - The first admission of guilt after PSG 1-1 Newcastle...

UEFA have all but confirmed a major error was made during last night's 1-1 draw at PSG, where Kylian Mbappe was wrongfully handed a 98th-minute penalty to deny Newcastle a famous win.

They've confirmed that the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) who recommended a review of Tino Livramento’s 'handball' has now been stood down from his Champions League duties tonight.

Polish official Tomasz Kwiatkowski was set to be on VAR duty for Real Sociedad's group stage fixture with Red Bull Salzburg tonight, but he's now been replaced by German official Marco Fritz. It really does make you sick. Too little too late and a clear admission of guilt from UEFA after last night's shocking error. 

To make matters worse, UEFA's board previously recommended that guidelines for the 2023/24 season 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”. This recommendation from April 2023 was clearly not applied last night, as the ball bounced from Livramento's chest and onto his arm.

After the game, Eddie Howe had this to say when discussing the costly incident:

“I think, in my opinion, it wasn’t the right decision. So many things to take into account in that moment, I think the speed first, and then there’s a ricochet that when you slow (it) down it looks totally different to the live event. Another thing is are the hands in an unnatural position? I think they’re down by side is running, sort of in a running motion.

“I feel it’s a poor decision. And I think it’s hugely frustrating for us. Because in that moment, you know how little time there is left in the game, but nothing we can do about it.”