Bournemouth had an injury time winner disallowed for a ‘factual handball’ by VAR.
Alan Shearer gave a telling response to Bournemouth’s controversial disallowed goal in their 1-1 draw against Newcastle.
The Cherries thought they had secured a 2-1 victory in injury time after Dango Ouattara headed the ball beyond Nick Pope.
The ball came off the shirt sleeve of the Bournemouth forward, with VAR checking for a potential handball offence.
VAR decided to rule it out for what was described as a ‘factual handball’ by Ouattara, much to the fury of the home fans inside Dean Court.
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Tensions then threatened to boil over when Joelinton floored Cherries goalkeeper Neto with a stray arm, but only received a booking.
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The Premier League Match Centre Twitter account gave VAR’s reasoning for the decision to disallow the goal, writing: “Ouattara’s goal is awarded on-field.
“The VAR overturned the decision as they deemed it to be a factual handball by Ouattara, therefore an on-field review was not required and the goal was disallowed.”
IFAB’s Laws of the Game for 2024/25 state the handball threshold as follows: “For the purposes of determining handball offences, the upper boundary of the arm is in line with the bottom of the armpit. Not every touch of a player’s hand/arm with the ball is an offence.”
In simpler terms, the goal should stand if the ball hits the player above the armpit – with the main debate being where exactly the ball hit Ouattara before going into the back of the net.
Newcastle legend Shearer made his feelings clear on the incident in a post on Twitter.
He wrote: “A lucky point as that’s an awful decision re hand ball. Never hand ball for me.”
When challenged with the claim that it ‘clearly hit his arm’, Shearer replied: “That clear the ref didn’t give it.”
The decision means Bournemouth have picked up two points from their first two Premier League matches with a pair of 1-1 draws.
Newcastle, meanwhile, are on four points, having beaten Southampton 1-0 at St James’ Park last weekend.
Featured Image Credit: Getty / BBC
Topics: Alan Shearer, Newcastle United, Football, Bournemouth, Premier League, VAR
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