The Pole Tomasz Kwiatkowski was to officiate, on the evening of Wednesday November 29, during the Champions League football match between the Spaniards Real Sociedad and the Austrians RB Salzburg. It won’t happen.
UEFA, the governing body of European football, decided to replace him, at the last minute, with the German Marco Fritz. The measure is similar to a sanction, after several contentious decisions taken by the refereeing body, the day before, during the second half of the match between Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Newcastle, at the Parc des Princes.
Responsible for VAR (video assistance for refereeing), Mr. Kwiatkowski is notably at the origin of the penalty awarded to the hosts in the final minutes (90e + 8), which allowed Kylian Mbappé and his teammates to conclude the meeting with a draw (1-1).
Tuesday evening, as added time approaches its end, the Parisians push to equalize. Ousmane Dembélé crosses into the Magpies area, the ball seems to touch the hand of English defender Valentino Livramento. The central referee, Szymon Marciniak, stops the game and waits for instructions from the VAR. Then he will check it himself, by viewing the images, before awarding the penalty to the Parisians.
A “steal” for the British media
In the post-match press conference, Eddie Howe, the Newcastle coach, had already argued that the official had not “did not make the right decision” : “You have to take certain things into account at this moment, the speed first, which is not the same as slow motion. I think the hand goes in the direction of a natural movement of the body. It’s frustrating, but that’s how it is, there’s nothing we can do about it. » Across the Channel, the press also sharply denounced the choice of Mr. Marciniak, denouncing the ” flight “ suffered by Newcastle.
The ball first hit Livramento’s chest, before hitting his left arm. A situation which, according to UEFA directives, did not justify calling a penalty.