The controversy over a non-call for hand ball in Bayern Munich's loss to the Paris St.-Germain in the UEFA Champions League semifinal Wednesday received clarification Thursday, with UEFA releasing a statement that the correct call was made on the pitch.
In the 31st minute from there own penalty area, PSG's clearance hits João Neves in the arm. However, there is no call for handball when a ball kicked by your own team hits your arm:
IFAB Law 12 states: “A handball offense is not committed when a player is hit on the hand/arm by a ball which has been played by a teammate (unless the ball goes directly into the opponents’ goal or the player scores immediately afterwards, in which case a direct free kick is awarded to the other team).”
However, Bayern was robbed on handball call minutes earlier, when PSG's Nuno Mendes was clearly hit in the upper arm on a ball advanced on the rush by Bayern's Konrad Laimer. Bayern was down two goals on aggregate at that point and Mendes was playing on a yellow card. Since a handball is an automatic bookable yellow, Mendes would have been red-carded for his second yellow and Bayern would have had the advantage of playing the final 60 minutes playing 11-on-10. As a rule, VAR review can't be used on anything that is a second booking. Portuguese referee João Pinheiro opted not to book Mendes, citing incidental contact, and awarded Bayern a free kick on the spot.
PSG went on to win, 6-5, on aggregate. They will play Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League final on May 30.
My take: Not allowing a VAR review for second bookings is dumb, especially when it can be used on whether to assess a potential red-card incident. Pinheiro seemed to not want to dramatically affect such an important game on what was an inadvertent infraction. If it was the other way around, Bayern would have been wanting that same grace given.
THE ASYLUM
UEFA 'handball' controversy
The controversy over a non-call for hand ball in Bayern Munich's loss to the Paris St.-Germain in the UEFA Champions League semifinal Wednesday received clarification Thursday, with UEFA releasing a statement that the correct call was made on the pitch.
In the 31st minute from there own penalty area, PSG's clearance hits João Neves in the arm. However, there is no call for handball when a ball kicked by your own team hits your arm:
IFAB Law 12 states: “A handball offense is not committed when a player is hit on the hand/arm by a ball which has been played by a teammate (unless the ball goes directly into the opponents’ goal or the player scores immediately afterwards, in which case a direct free kick is awarded to the other team).”
However, Bayern was robbed on handball call minutes earlier, when PSG's Nuno Mendes was clearly hit in the upper arm on a ball advanced on the rush by Bayern's Konrad Laimer. Bayern was down two goals on aggregate at that point and Mendes was playing on a yellow card. Since a handball is an automatic bookable yellow, Mendes would have been red-carded for his second yellow and Bayern would have had the advantage of playing the final 60 minutes playing 11-on-10. As a rule, VAR review can't be used on anything that is a second booking. Portuguese referee João Pinheiro opted not to book Mendes, citing incidental contact, and awarded Bayern a free kick on the spot.
PSG went on to win, 6-5, on aggregate. They will play Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League final on May 30.
My take: Not allowing a VAR review for second bookings is dumb, especially when it can be used on whether to assess a potential red-card incident. Pinheiro seemed to not want to dramatically affect such an important game on what was an inadvertent infraction. If it was the other way around, Bayern would have been wanting that same grace given.
Want to participate in our comments?
Want an ad-free experience?
Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits!
We’d love to have you!