VAR Who Awarded Controversial Penalty To PSG Vs Newcastle Removed From Duty By UEFA

While Kwiatkowski was slated to act as the VAR for the fixture between Real Sociedad and FC Salzburg, instead it will now be the German official Marco Fritz who will be the VAR for this match.

VAR Referee Tomasz Kwiatkowski (File Photo).

Source : Getty

In a dramatic turn of events in the UEFA Champions League Paris Saint-Germain vs Newcastle United group-stage fixture, Video Assisted Referee (VAR) awarded a stoppage-time penalty to the Ligue 1 giants through which they scored to take a point from the fixture at the Parc des Princes Stadium in Paris. However, the decision was controversial in nature as the ball had deflected off Tino Livramento's body and then hit his arms on a cross from PSG's Ousmane Dembele. 

After a lot of noise on social media and criticism of the decision by ex-footballers, pundits and football managers, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) have now removed Polish VAR Tomasz Kwiatkowski from duty for the match on Wednesday. Kwiatkowski was the referee who had awarded the penalty which helped Kylian Mbappe score and allow PSG to equalise.



Kwiatkowski Was Supposed To Be VAR For Real Sociedad vs FC Salzburg UCL Match

While Kwiatkowski was slated to act as the VAR for the fixture between Real Sociedad and FC Salzburg, instead it will now be the German official Marco Fritz who will be the VAR for this match. Although UEFA has not explicitly said anything, the move implies that they too feel that Newcastle were wronged because of Kwiatkowski's decision which is why they have taken the action.

His decision might not just affect the result of the match but also shatter Newcastle's hopes of securing a place in the knockout stage of the competition as they no longer have their fate in their own hands and not only need to win their last match but also hope from a slip-up from PSG.

It is worth highlighting that the ball had hit the arm of Newcastle's Lewis Miley in quite the most similar fashion in the 71st minute of the game but on that occasion, the VAR had not intervened.