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      Why Man Utd may have LOST Galatasaray game by Premier League rules with Uefa VAR drawing different line for Icardi goal

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      MAURO ICARDI’S disallowed goal against Manchester United may have stood if it was scored in the Premier League.So United could have lost to Galatasaray as Icardi’s strike would have levelled the match at 2-2 just before half-time.
      Uefa judges offside from the start of the arm so Mauro Icardi was offsideCredit: TNT Sports
      Icardi’s strike would have made the score 2-2Credit: AP
      Instead Erik ten Hag’s side went 3-1 up before being pegged back, as VAR backed up the linesman’s call that Icardi was offside.
      Uefa use a semi-automated system to judge offside in the Champions League and Icardi was a fraction beyond the last defender Harry Maguire.
      But in the Premier League no such system is in place, with VAR officials instead reliant on drawing lines to determine offside.
      Icardi was offside by the tightest of margins with only his shoulder beyond Maguire, with the semi-automated system drawing a line right where Maguire’s arm started.
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      However Premier League officials judge the starting point of offside at the logo on the arm – lower than the automated system.
      That meant Icardi likely would have been called onside, so his goal would have stood and United may have lost.
      The Red Devils were also fortunate Scott McTominay was not penalised for handball when the ball struck his arm in the penalty area.
      Uefa referees have been quick to award penalties whenever the ball strikes an arm in the box, as Newcastle found out against Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday.
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      However, Galatasaray also benefitted from the officials for their first goal as Hakim Ziyech fired a free-kick past Andre Onana.
      Icardi broke a law of the game as the ball was hit, as he was stood too close to the wall – the law states attacking players must remain at least one metre away from a wall containing four or more players. More

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      Premier League club exec BANNED by FA after calling referee Anthony Taylor ‘f***ing useless’

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      WOLVES’ sporting director has been fined and handed a BAN after swearing at referee Anthony Taylor.The FA charged Matt Hobbs with misconduct after he called Taylor “f***ing useless” following Wolves’ 2-2 controversial draw with Newcastle.
      Wolves chief Matt Hobbs has been banned for a game after swearing at Anthony TaylorCredit: Getty
      Hobbs called Taylor ‘f***ing useless’ after Wolves’ controversial draw with NewcastleCredit: AFP
      Gary O’Neill’s side went behind to a questionable penalty following an extremely lengthy VAR check.
      The Wolves manager himself branded the decision “scandalous.”
      And following the game, Hobbs swore at Taylor while also sarcastically saying “we look forward to your apology again.”
      Hobbs, who expressed remorse over his misconduct, said he had become “increasingly frustrated” over the decisions from Taylor.
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      He has now been banned for Wolves’ next game against Arsenal.
      And Hobbs must also pay a £4,000 fine after Wolves were caught up in another VAR storm against Fulham.
      Boss O’Neill was left incensed as the Cottagers were handed two controversial penalties in a 3-2 win, while also seeing Fulham escape several red cards.
      And he claims referee Michael Salisbury ADMITTED he and VAR had got crucial decisions wrong during the game.
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      O’Neill said: “We discussed a lot of decisions. Vinicius should have been sent off for headbutting Max [Kilman]. Clear, he headbutts him on the nose. Isn’t sent off, is given a yellow.
      “Tim Ream should have been sent off for a second bookable offence on the penalty. They’re both my opinions on those, obviously everyone can have their own.
      “The penalties that went against us, Nelson plays the ball, doesn’t touch Tom Cairney. I watched that back with the referee and, to be fair to him, he says he thinks they’ve got that wrong and he should have been sent to the monitor.
      “Doesn’t help me, doesn’t help all the fans that have travelled all this way to watch the team, doesn’t help the players who are feeling frustrated again.
      “So the Nelson one has pretty much been admitted by the referee that they made a mistake.
      “The one on Harry Wilson we disagree on a little bit. He thinks there’s enough contact there to give a penalty. I think it’s really soft.
      “So you could argue two of them could go against us, but for all four of them to go against us is a tough one for the lads, the supporters and myself to take because we’ve been here a lot of times this season. 
      “It’s tough because we didn’t deserve that.” More

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      Fans call ‘FIX’ as Galatasaray have goal vs Man Utd ruled out for controversial VAR after McTominay handball ignored

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      FANS believe Manchester United’s clash with Galatasaray has been rigged after the Red Devils benefitted from a tight offside call and a controversial handball decision.The Red Devils raced into a 2-0 lead in Istanbul but could have gone into half-time all square.
      Mauro Icardi was judged to be offside by the highest of margins
      Scott McTominay was not penalised after the ball struck his arm
      Hakim Ziyech pulled one back and Mauro Icardi then fired past Andre Onana – only to be called offside.
      The lino flagged the striker offside and VAR backed up his decision in a matter of seconds – seemingly without drawing the lines.
      Even the semi-automated system sparked controversy as Harry Maguire appeared to play Icardi onside with the top of his arm.
      A fan reacted saying: “Never offside. Such a disgrace.”
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      Another remarked: “Where were the lines? He looks on.”
      And a third wrote: “Robbery.”
      Galatasaray also could have had a penalty but Scott McTominay was judged not to have committed a handball despite the ball striking his arm in the penalty box.
      Fans were outraged by the decision – particularly as it came less than 24 hours after Newcastle defender Tino Livramento was punished for a lesser offence.
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      The right-back was penalised for handball despite the ball coming off his thigh first before hitting his arm with the faintest of touches.
      Champions League referees have been quick to point to the spot whenever a ball strikes a players hand in the area – as United found out to their advantage and their detriment in their previous European clash against Copenhagen.
      United have conceded a penalty in their four previous Champions League games, yet some fans feel the referee letting them off means the game is a fix.
      One said: “Think about it… Uefa will lose a lot of profit if United don’t make it through, so they will do as much as they can to make them qualify.
      “RIGGED 🥴🥴🥴”
      Another added: “This is a clear penalty, VAR rigging the match for Manchester United again smh💔🤦🏾‍♂️🤦🏾‍♂️🤦🏾‍♂️”
      A third said: “To be honest that was a clear penalty, fix is def in tbh.” More

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      VAR who gave controversial PSG penalty in Newcastle clash AXED for Champions League game tonight

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      THE VAR official who awarded Paris Saint-Germain a controversial penalty against Newcastle has been axed for a Champions League game tonight.Toon looked on course to do the double over Kylian Mbappe’s side as they led 1-0 in Paris with moments to go.
      The VAR official who gave PSG a controversial penalty against Newcastle has been axedCredit: Getty
      Tomasz Kwiatkowski instructed ref Szymon Marciniak to review the incident, resulting in a successful PSG penaltyCredit: Getty
      But disaster struck in the 98th minute when a point-blank shot was fired at Tino Livramento.
      The ball hit his chest before deflecting onto his arm.
      And PSG players went beserk as referee Szymon Marciniak refused to award a spot-kick.
      However, VAR official Tomasz Kwiatkowski instructed Marciniak to rewatch the incident on the pitch-side monitor.
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      And despite replays showing Livramento knew nothing about the handball, Marciniak decided to reverse his decision.
      Mbappe then fired home a penalty to seal a 1-1 draw, leaving Newcastle’s hopes of reaching the next round of of their hands.
      The decision from VAR was blasted by the wider football world, with many calling it a “robbery”.
      And the backlash has now been felt by Kwiatowski, who will no longer be on VAR duty for tonight’s Champions League clash between Real Sociedad and RB Salzburg.
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      The decision is sure to please Newcastle boss Eddie Howe, who was left deflated after yesterday’s final whistle.
      He said: “Yes, I do (have a sense of injustice). It wasn’t the right decision in my opinion. There are so many things to take into account at that moment, the speed first.

      “It was a ricochet that when it is slowed down looks completely different to the live event.
      “The ball hits his chest first, comes up and hits his hand. But his hand is not in an unnatural position, it is down by his side but he is in a running motion.
      “I feel it is a poor decision and it’s hugely frustrating for us.” More

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      Uefa recommended handball rule change that would have stopped Newcastle heartache against PSG

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      NEWCASTLE felt hard done by after conceding a late penalty against Paris Saint-Germain. The Magpies were leading going into the final minute before the ball struck the arm of Tino Livramento in the penalty area.

      Newcastle felt hard done by after conceding a late penaltyCredit: Getty
      The ball bounced off Tino Livramento’s chest before it hit his armCredit: TNT Sports
      Referee Szymon Marciniak initially waved away PSG appeals before VAR overturned the call, with Kylian Mbappe duly scoring an equaliser from 12 yards.
      However, replays showed that the ball had come off his chest first.
      Under Uefa rules, Livramento was deemed to have made his body unnaturally bigger with his arm.
      But in a series of recommendations for the 2023/24 season, Uefa’s Football Board – an independent advisory group – had in April proposed a change that would have saved Newcastle’s skin in the final minutes.
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      The statement on the organisation’s website, said: “With regard to the Laws of the Game, which stipulate that not every touch of a player’s hand/arm with the ball is an offence, the Board issued the following recommendations for next season for better compliance of the Laws with the nature of the game:

      In their guidelines for the 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 towards the goal.
      On the same notice, the Board recommends that not every handball should automatically lead to a caution after every shot at goal, as anticipated by current guidelines.
      The Board encourages the referees to be more decisive in cautioning players who display unsporting behaviour, especially when attempting to deceive the referee by feigning injury or pretending to have been fouled.
      UEFA should launch an initiative towards the IFAB for the amendment of Law 12, which foresees that a player should be sent off for denying the opposing team a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity by a handball offence. The Board feels players should be sent off only if they deliberately and intentionally touch the ball with their hand/arm. In case of other handball offences, the players should only be cautioned.”

      Keith Hackett, former general manager of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), the English referees’ body, told the Daily Telegraph that this recommendation was not implemented by Uefa for its own competitions.
      The Premier League, meanwhile, operates under more lenient handball rules.
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      TNT Sports commentator Ally McCoist suggested Eddie Howe’s side had been “robbed” by the decision.
      He said: “That is a shambles! Honestly, that’s not on. It hits his chest, goes off his left elbow. If that’s a penalty, we may as well give the game up!
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      “It’s never a penalty, we’ve been singing his praises all night. If he’s the best ref in the business, how has he given that?! There is no way that that penalty kick should be given.
      “That’s not on, I feel for Eddie Howe and those players, I genuinely do. It’s bordering on robbery, it really is.”
      Fellow pundit Jermaine Jenas echoed this sentiment while Toon legend Alan Shearer also shared an X-rated post on social media with his own thoughts on the matter.
      Jenas added: “I think that’s a shocker from the referee. He had such a good game and to give that right at the end, he’s caved to be honest with you.
      “I think the players from Paris Saint-Germain put so much pressure on him throughout the match, he’d performed so well, but for that to happen in that moment like that, it doesn’t feel right.
      “It’ll be a tough one to swallow for the players but Eddie Howe should be so proud of his team.
      “They’re down to their bare bones, they’ve worked their socks off and they should’ve left Paris with all three points.”
      Meanwhile, Shearer posted on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Do me a f***ing favour man. What a load of s***.”
      Alexander Isak had put the Magpies ahead in the opening stages by taking advantage of a spilt save from Gianluigi Donnarumma.
      However, Newcastle were soon penned back into their own half and defended resolutely before seeing their hard work undone by Kylian Mbappe’s 98th-minute spot kick.
      A 3-1 win for Borussia Dortmund at AC Milan means it is a one-game shootout for one of three teams to progress into the knockout stages of the Champions League.
      PSG sit on seven points, while Newcastle and Milan both sit on five.
      The Toon host Milan in their final group stage game, knowing they must win to stand a chance of progressing to the Last 16.
      A defeat will see them knocked out of European football entirely. More

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      Football rule change set to stop time-wasting goalkeepers for good with new punishment proposed

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      TIME-WASTING goalkeepers are set to be punished with a CORNER being awarded against them in a major new proposed Law change.And English professional football could trial sin-bins for dissent and cynical game-stopping fouls as soon as next season.
      The new rule will come in to prevent time wasting from goalkeepersCredit: Getty
      The Law-making International FA Board has agreed that keepers are routinely abusing the “six second” rule and that action is required.
      While a formal proposal is unlikely to be brought in for next term, the belief is that making sure there is a suitable punishment for time-wasting will ensure keepers speed up play when they have the ball in their hands.
      Fifa refs’ chief Pierluigi Collina explained: “I have seen keepers with the ball in their hand for 10, 15, 20, 25 seconds. That’s not acceptable.
      “The issue was that giving an indirect free-kick inside the box might be considered too harsh a punishment.
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      “But we think we have found a solution.
      “We may consider increasing the time given to the goalkeeper – sometimes six seconds is too little.
      “But then they have to expect this alternative punishment would be given.”
      It is thought likely that an extension to 10 seconds for a keeper to keep the ball in their hands will be written into the Laws.
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      And FA chief executive Mark Bullingham added: “We talked about whether there was a way where you concede possession but without it being a huge punishment.
      “People feel an indirect free-kick so close to the goal is too much but if you had a corner given, you’d be conceding possession, but not giving such a clear goalscoring opportunity.”
      The potential change is more likely to be introduced for the 2024-25 season although it could come earlier.
      But the Ifab did agree to global trials of sin-bins and new Laws allowing only the team captain to approach the referee in a bid to clamp down on misbehaviour.
      Protocols will be drafted over the next few months with a view to confirming trials from next season.
      That could even see sin-bins introduced in the Women’s Super League or FA Cup next term – although that has yet to be decided.
      Ifab says the plan is to root out “anti-football behaviour”, with deliberate game-stopping fouls and mouthing off at officials top of the hit-list.
      Bullingham explained: “The areas we were looking at were dissent and tactical fouls.
      “There’s a real frustration for fans when they’re watching games when they see a promising counter-attack that’s ruined by that sort of foul.
      “We asked if a yellow card is sufficient punishment for that and don’t believe it is.”
      Players judged guilty of the offences will get 10 minutes on the sidelines in addition to the yellow card – with a second offence caution still bringing dismissal.
      The Wembley boss added: “You can call it a tactical foul, cynical foul or professional foul.
      “But it’s a foul that prevents a promising attack and they do it consciously knowing they’re going to only get a yellow card.
      “We don’t think they would do it if they felkt there would be a sin-bin for that and 10 minutes out of the game.”
      Ifab also agreed new Laws to come into effect from next term which will see all deliberate defensive hand-ball offences in the penalty box bringing red cards and that will mean the ball must overhang or touch the centre of the spot at penalties.
      Goalkeepers will concede corners in the event of time-wastingCredit: Getty More

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      Footie bosses WILL press ahead with changes to VAR for corners, free-kicks & yellow cards sparking fan fury

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      FOOTBALL chiefs are ignoring fan fury over VAR by pressing ahead with an expansion of it in the game.Members of the law-making body IFAB agreed at a meeting yesterday to work on plans for interventions on corners, free-kicks and second yellow cards.
      Footie bosses are ignoring fan fury over VAR by pressing ahead with an expansion of it in the gameCredit: Getty
      They have agreed on the moves despite a backlash from supporters on the tech and amid fears games could become two-hour marathons due to delays.
      It comes after we had revealed how football bigwigs from the four Home Nations and Fifa were planning the VAR shake-up — with the summit taking place at a Heathrow hotel yesterday.
      Last night, Fifa referees’ chief Pierluigi Collina confirmed that more VAR calls are on the table.
      Collina, 63, said: “We want to go to a second stage.
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      “It is the right time to consider if something can be changed and VAR used for other things.
      “But there is one important criteria that must be respected: we must have no extra delays.”
      FA chief executive Mark Bullingham is opposed to adding more decisions to the current VAR focus on goals, penalties and red cards.
      But he has just one vote out of the eight IFAB members — with six votes required for any ­measures to be agreed.
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      VAR controversies have plagued the Premier League this season — Chelsea’s recent win at Spurs saw a record nine VAR checks during it.
      IFAB chief executive Lukas Brud said they would look for feedback from Prem officials and the other European leagues.
      However, he added: “If we feel as a group that there’s a need to adjust or improve certain areas of VAR protocol, then we will.”
      Fans groups hit out at the plan.
      Martin Buhagiar, chair of the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust, said: “Rather than going further with VAR, they need to realise it’s not working.”
      And Richard Smith of the Arsenal Independent Supporters Association said: “How do they propose to check corners and yellows?
      “What would define an issue worth checking?
      “It’s none or all — so it’s surely unworkable.”
      The Sun’s front page reported on the new plans for VAR More

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      What if VAR was just a ploy to bring breaks into football to make money from advertising?

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      SOON after VAR was introduced, those in favour of it and those against it divided into two distinct groups.If a decision went the way of your team, you liked VAR. If a decision went against your team, you were against VAR.
      VAR could be extended to checking corners, free kicks and yellow cards under new plansCredit: Getty
      What about if they’re in it to change the game in order to squeeze more TV advertising revenue out of it?Credit: AFP
      The advantage of this was that we all had a try at being in each group.
      We’re shallow like that, us football fans. We even laughed at our own shallowness, chanting: “**** VAR, **** VAR, **** VAR” over and over again when it had disallowed our team’s goal.
      But then, perhaps only minutes later after it had disallowed the other team’s goal, we’d chant: “Love VAR, love VAR, love VAR.” It was all very funny.
      But now the laughing has stopped. VAR could be extended to checking corners, free kicks and yellow cards under plans by football law-making body IFAB.
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      You don’t even get opposing fans goading each other when decisions go against the other lot.
      Because we all know it will be our turn in a minute. It has dawned on us all that it’s ruining the game and we’re all going to be on the losing side.
      As a West Brom fan, I ought to be enjoying watching Wolves on the receiving end of one terrible decision after another.
      There were three more howlers for them on Monday night at Fulham.
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      And I just feel plain sorry for them, even angry on their behalf. Yes, a West Brom fan annoyed on behalf of Wolverhampton Wanderers.
      This is what it’s come to. Each well-meant tweak to VAR’s operation only seems to make matters worse.
      In the interest of eliminating errors, every micro- second of footage is pored over in ever more forensic detail. And what do we seem to get? Yes, yet more howlers.
      Before VAR, we only had the man in the middle to blame.
      And hard though it sometimes was, we generally found it in our hearts to forgive them their mistakes because they were, after all, human.
      By the same logic, we can’t forgive VAR because it feels like it’s not human. It’s to do with bewilderingly clever technology and was set up specifically to counteract the fallibility of humans.
      Except, of course, even this logic was flawed as it’s become abundantly clear the technology is only as infallible as the humans in charge of it.
      We’re told the development of Artificial Intelligence might result in humans being taken out of the picture completely. In terms of VAR, that could get really interesting.
      Perhaps it’s only the human involvement saving VAR from destruction at the hands of the football mob.
      Imagine if, instead of humans looking at screens at Stockley Park, there was only a super-clever AI mega-machine.
      If this super-computer then started making mistakes, I honestly think football fans could end up marching to Stockley Park and tearing the thing limb from limb, or from chip to chip, or whatever the machine equivalent is of human physiology. And AI will end there and then.
      The question is whether VAR can survive long enough for things to get that far.
      Perhaps it’s time to write the whole thing off as a noble idea that, despite everyone’s best efforts, simply couldn’t be made to work.
      Terrible mistakes
      Or perhaps they should stop it for a year in the hope that we’ll go back to despairing of terrible mistakes and demanding video technology all over again.
      To try to make sense of the current VAR chaos, I tried a mental exercise.
      I considered who it could possibly suit to have longer and longer VAR checks ruining the flow of the game.
      And I have an answer. An answer which, I must admit, amounts to nothing more than a conspiracy theory.
      I therefore ask you to disregard every word of the following paragraph.
      Here’s my conspiracy theory: While we’re all busy worrying about the influence on our game of troubling regimes in oil-rich countries, we’re forgetting to be concerned about the effect on football of the growing amount of American investment.
      Around half of the Premier League’s clubs have American money in them.
      If they’re in it for the love of the game, that’s nice.

      If they’re in it to make money out of the game, that’s not quite so nice.
      And what about if they’re in it to change the game in order to squeeze more TV advertising revenue out of it?
      I’m sure they’d be chuffed to bits if we switched to playing four quarters instead of two halves.
      And here’s the conspiracy bit — what about if these VAR checks got long enough to accommodate a commercial break?
      You can just imagine it: Will the goal stand, or will it be disallowed? Join us after the break to find out.
      Or no penalty given! But will the ref change his mind? He’s on his way to the monitor! Sit through this message from our sponsor and we’ll tell you what the referee decides.
      As I say. Disregard the previous paragraph. It couldn’t happen, obviously. More