Newcastle United lodge formal complaint after PSG VAR controversy as UEFA issue punishment

Newcastle United want answers from UEFA after Tuesday's controversial 1-1 draw at Paris Saint-Germain.

The Magpies have contacted UEFA to seek an explanation for the penalty decision that seemed to go against the European football governing body's own guidance. Newcastle were denied a historic away win in the French capital as a VAR intervention led to a 98th-minute penalty converted by Kylian Mbappe to cancel out Alexander Isak's first-half opener.

The penalty was awarded under controversial circumstances after Ousmane Dembele's pass hit Tino Livramento's chest and onto his elbow. Referee Szymon Marciniak initially waved PSG's appeals away before a VAR check prompted an overturn that appeared to go against UEFA guidelines set out 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."

UEFA have already reacted to the decision by removing VAR official Tomasz Kwiatkowski was removed from the Wednesday night Champions League fixture between Real Sociedad and Red Bull Salzburg. He also won't be involved in the final round of Champions League fixtures next month.

Assessing the incident straight after the match, Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe told reporters: "We rode our luck. We ran out of luck at the end. I didn't think it was a penalty.

"It's not a penalty when it hits his chest first and then hits his hand which is low. I'm not allowed to sum it up. I can't say my inner thoughts obviously [I'd get in trouble].

"I thought the referee was having a good game up until this moment. He had been strong."

But after having a couple of days to reflect on the event, Howe felt the referee was swayed by VAR after initially making the correct decision on the pitch.

"He's looking at the screen and I'm thinking, 'please be strong enough to go with your initial decision'," Howe said. "Or, 'Please be strong enough to go your opinion, not that of someone who is not at the game'. Because you're both seeing the same images.

"Unfortunately that didn't happen for us [in Paris] but I think that's a positive change for VAR. Let the referee make a more independent decision based on the screen and the image that he's seeing."