Newcastle United co-owner Mehrdad Ghodoussi expressed his frustration with the controversial 1-1 draw against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League. Ghodoussi suggested that UEFA might need to visit Specsavers, a reference to an optician, following the match.
The contentious moment occurred when Kylian Mbappe converted a 98th-minute penalty, awarded after a VAR check on Tino Livramento’s perceived handball inside the area. This decision denied Newcastle a potential historic away win. The Magpies now face the crucial task of winning their final group stage match against AC Milan and hoping for a favorable result from Borussia Dortmund against PSG to progress.
After the match, Ghodoussi took to social media to express his pride in the team’s effort, stating that the players gave their all on the pitch and describing them as “special.”
A notable moment on Twitter unfolded when UEFA’s official Champions League account posted about the result at Parc des Princes. Specsavers, known for its tagline “Should’ve gone to Specsavers,” responded to the tweet, humorously asking if UEFA was available for a “long and serious chat.” Ghodoussi joined in by requesting Specsavers to make an appointment for UEFA.
The controversy surrounding the penalty decision raised questions about its alignment with UEFA’s guidance on handball penalties issued earlier in the year. UEFA’s statement from last season recommended that no handball offense should be called if the ball is deflected from the player’s own body, particularly when the ball does not go toward the goal. The decision in the Newcastle-PSG match seemed to deviate from this guidance, adding to the dissatisfaction among Newcastle’s ownership and fans.
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