LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 13: Mehrdad Ghodoussi, Newcastle United's co-owner looks on during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Newcastle United at Stamford Bridge on March 13, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)
After Newcastle United’s 1-1 Champions League tie at Paris Saint-Germain, Mehrdad Ghodoussi expressed his emotions.
Kylian Mbappe’s controversial penalty in the 98th minute, which was given after a VAR assessment on Tino Livramento’s handball inside the area, erased Alexander Isak’s first-half goal. After being brutally denied a historic away victory in the Champions League, the Magpies must now win their last group stage match against AC Milan in order to advance, and they also depend on Borussia Dortmund to draw with PSG.
Ghodoussi wrote on social media following the game, “I’m at a loss for words. I’m really proud of our boys because they gave it their all on that pitch once more. These boys are unique.
Ghodoussi’s most insightful Twitter response, though, was presumably in response to a message made by UEFA’s official Champions League account after the outcome at Parc des Princes. In response to the remark, Specsavers’ official account on Twitter said, “Are you free for a long and serious chat?”
“Can you make them an appointment please?” the Newcastle co-owner asked Specsavers in response.
The contentious choice to give the penalty appears to be in violation of UEFA guidelines on handball penalty decisions that were released earlier this year.
A statement published by UEFA the previous season read: “In their guidelines for 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 toward the goal.”
