'It would ruin the game' - Newcastle United boss issues strong warning ahead of Man Utd clash

Eddie Howe believes more power given to video assistant referees could 'ruin' football after his Newcastle United side were denied a famous win at Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday.

Referee Szymon Marciniak initially waved away PSG's appeals after the ball hit Tino Livramento inside the Newcastle penalty area in the Champions League clash. A VAR intervention prompted the Polish official to overturn the decision as Kylian Mbappe proceeded to score a 98th-minute equaliser from the penalty spot.

Newcastle have contacted UEFA for clarity on the decision that appeared to go against the European football governing body's own guidance issued just last season. A UEFA statement from April 2023 read: "In their guidelines for next season, the Board recommends that UEFA 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 toward the goal."

As a result, VAR was a big talking point in Howe's pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday's Premier League clash against Manchester United at St James' Park. And the Newcastle boss made his feelings clear with measured responses.

“I’d like to see less VAR," he admitted. “I don’t have an issue with offsides because that is as close as it can be to being right, whether you agree with the decision, the lines give you a black and white yes or no. The rest, I’m not in favour.

“I still think it’s just another person’s opinion against another person’s opinion. It’s very subjective. I’d like to see less. I definitely wouldn’t want to see more because I think it would ruin the game.”

Howe went on to highlight his main issue with the implementation of VAR, which takes a certain degree of power and objectivity away from the on-field referee.

Reflecting on Tuesday night's decision at Parc des Princes, Howe added: “That for me, with VAR is an issue – not enough power is given to the on-field decision, which in this case was correct.

“I still believe – I’m old-fashioned in this – that the on-field decision should be given a little bit more strength because the referee is there, he’s feeling the game, he’s managing the game in the middle and I think that is worth something.”