Handball call on Kimpembe divides opinion
Injured Paris Saint-Germain striker Neymar lashed out at the video assistant referee (VAR) system, calling the late penalty decision that led to their elimination from the Champions League yesterday morning (Singapore time) a "disgrace".
The French champions won 2-0 away at Manchester United in the first leg, and although they were 2-1 down on the night, PSG were going through on aggregate until the stoppage-time penalty gave United a shock 3-1 win.
The spot-kick, awarded for handball against Presnel Kimpembe after referee Damir Skomina consulted the VAR, put the English club through on away goals.
The decision infuriated Neymar, who watched the match from the stands after returning a few hours earlier from partying at Rio de Janeiro's famous carnival, reported Reuters.
"This is a disgrace!! And they put four guys there who don't understand football to look at a slow motion replay... It's just not possible!!! How is a guy going to hold his hand behind his back," he wrote in Portuguese on Instagram, before finishing with an expletive commonly used in Brazil.
Ex-United players Rio Ferdinand Michael Owen also agreed that it was not a penalty.
Former English Premier League referee Peter Walton, however, insisted the officials got the penalty call right.
He said on BT Sport: "We called it straight away - the way Kimpembe has gone up there he's left his arm out, he's turned his back and he's taken no responsibility for the way the ball has struck him.
"It's a huge decision and that's exactly why VAR has been brought in. As the law is written at the moment, that's handball."
Fellow former EPL official Mark Clattenburg, meanwhile, feels the problem stems from Uefa's interpretation of the handball rule.
He wrote in his Daily Mail column: "This, for me, should not have been a penalty as Presnel Kimpembe did not deliberately handle the ball...
"This would never be given as a penalty in the Premier League, but it was given in the Champions League because of Uefa's recent instruction to referees, which came about after Manchester City conceded a similar one at Schalke 04 last month.
"They want referees to penalise handballs when the arm is out and in a non-natural position."
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