UEFA punishes the referee of the match between Saint-Germain and Newcastle United

The refereeing lapse that took place in the final minutes of the French match between Paris Saint-Germain and its English guest, Newcastle United, in the fifth round of the Champions League, on Tuesday, did not go unnoticed by European Union officials for the game.

The announcement of the main referee of the match, Polish Szymon Marciniak, led to a penalty kick in the sixth minute of stoppage time in the confrontation that was held at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, to save the host team from the defeat that would have caused it to leave the competition in the group stage.

The blame then fell on the Polish referee responsible for the video technology, Tomasz Kwiatkowski, who summoned his colleague Marciniak to re-watch a clip of Newcastle player Tino Livramento touching the ball with his arm after it had hit his body the first time.

French star Kylian Mbappe adjusted the score at a crucial time in the match, after referee Marciniak added an additional eight minutes.

The latest regulations of the International Football Association Board indicate that the referee is obliged to announce a penalty kick after touching the ball by hand in two cases:

The player intentionally touches the ball by moving his arm directly toward it, while the second relates to using the arm or hand, even indirectly, meaning it helps make the body appear larger, that is, opposing the movement of his body toward the ball.

In the second case, the referee intervenes to interpret this point, either by announcing a foul or not, as happened in the match between Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle United.

The match in Group F witnessed similar cases, such as what happened in the 72nd minute when the ball hit the knee of young player Louis Miley before bouncing into his hand, a move for which referee Marciniak did not punish the English team and ordered the game to continue.

The European Football Association excluded referee Tomasz Kwiatkowski from another match in the Champions League on Wednesday, which was Real Sociedad’s match against Red Bull Salzburg, and he was replaced by German Marco Fritz to manage the video technology.