HARRY KANE and Bayern Munich were left fuming as two massive controversial decisions went against them within a couple of minutes.
The German giants found themselves 6-4 down to PSG on aggregate in their blockbuster Champions League semi-final.
After the 5-4 thriller in Paris, Ousmane Dembele fired in after just 141 seconds at the Allianz Arena.
But then came the two huge moments of controversy around the half-hour mark.
First, Nuno Mendes – already on a yellow card – appeared to handle the ball to stop a Bayern attack.
The referee blew his whistle and many in red pleaded for a second yellow to send Mendes off – which could have changed the tie, and ruled Mendes out of the final if PSG progressed.
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But ref Joao Pinheiro gave the free-kick the other way.
It is thought the assistant may have spotted a possible handball against Bayern defender Konrad Laimer just before Mendes’ own offence – but it was far from conclusive against the Austrian.
And Bayern’s rage boiled over again moments later when Vitinha blasted a clearance straight at PSG team-mate Joao Neves and the ball clearly struck the Portuguese star’s outstretched arm.
It was clearly unintentional but his arm lifted up before blocking the clearance.
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What is the handball law?
What is a handball offence in football?
A handball offence is committed when a player (except the goalkeeper in their own penalty area):
- deliberately touches the ball with their hand/arm
- touches the ball with their hand/arm when it is in a position that makes their body unnaturally bigger and that position is not the result of their body moving fairly as part of play
- scores a goal against the other team with their hand/arm or scores immediately after the ball has touched their hand/arm (even if the touch was accidental)
What is not a handball offence in football?
A handball offence is not committed when a player:
- heads, kicks or plays the ball with another part of their body and it then hits their own hand/arm (unless the ball goes directly into the opponents’ goal or the player scores immediately afterwards)
- falls and the ball hits their supporting arm, which is between their body and the ground (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)
- is hit on the hand/arm by the ball which has been played by a team-mate (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)
A handball is punished with a direct free kick (or a penalty kick if the handball offence occurs in the player’s own penalty area).
Source: Ifab
Bayern players surrounded the referee while boss Vincent Kompany appealed on the sidelines.
VAR took a look – but despite some questionable penalties in Uefa competitions in the last week – they did not intervene.
The Ifab Laws of the Game does not mention anything about the ball being kicked by a team-mate in Law 12 on fouls and misconduct.
However, there is a directive on the Ifab website advising not to award a handball when the ball comes from a team-mate.
Atletico Madrid, Nottingham Forest and, ironically, PSG all benefited from penalties for handball in the first legs.
PSG’s came when Dembele’s cross bounced up off Alphonso Davies’ groin before hitting his hand.
Kane remonstrated with the officials once again when heading off the pitch at half-time, demonstrating the movement of Neves’ arm.
And Alan Shearer led the complaints about the inconsistency on social media.
The ex-England striker wrote: “The handball ball law is so f***** up it’s madness.
“They have just messed the whole thing up. Tied themselves in knots. #clueless”
Kane blasted home in injury time to cut the deficit to one but it was too little too late as PSG booked their Budapest final date with Arsenal.
