UEFA board pushed for handball rule change that would've allowed Liverpool goal

09 November 2023 , 21:19

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UEFA board pushed for handball rule change that would've allowed Liverpool goal

A controversial VAR decision denied Liverpool a dramatic late leveller as their winning start in the Europa League came to an abrupt end against Toulouse.

Jarell Quansah thought he had scored an equaliser for the Reds in the 97th minute, with the young centre-back slotting the ball home inside the area to spark jubilant Liverpool celebrations.

However, after the video assistant referee advised Georgi Kabakov over to the pitchside monitor to look for a potential handball, the Reds faithful feared there was only going to be one outcome. Quansah's strike was eventually ruled out after Alexis Mac Allister was adjudged to have handled the ball in the build-up.

The ball bounced off Mac Allister's chest and into his arm much earlier in the move as Liverpool ended up losing the match 3-2 - their first defeat of the season in Europe. Jurgen Klopp's side remain on nine points from their opening four matches and their Europa League fate is still firmly in their own hands.

However, Quansah's strike would have been allowed if UEFA had agreed to a handball rule change that was put forward at the end of last season. Following a UEFA Football Board meeting back in April, several changes to the laws and refereeing matters were proposed, including an alteration to the handball law.

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The UEFA board recommended 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 towards the goal". In Mac Allister's case, the ball was deflected from his body onto his arm first, and then the ball also did not go towards goal. However, there is no indication the rule was changed by IFAB.

Jarell Quansah thought he equalised for Liverpool (Getty Images)

The UEFA Football Board includes managers such as Carlo Ancelotti and Jose Mourinho and a host of ex-players. The suggestions were echoed by UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin who insisted: "Nobody in the world understands when there's handball or not."

Jurgen Klopp felt his side should have been awarded the goal but admitted they didn't deserve to take anything from the game after a disappointing display.

"I only saw the video back now and for me it's not a handball, but how can I decide that? The ball goes to the chest and then I don't see a contact with the arm, to be honest," Klopp said. "Maybe they had a different picture than I had. It was pretty long ago before we scored the goal and I thought, 'Where is the free-kick?'

"I didn't see it properly but I heard there could have been a penalty for us in another situation, I don't know. Actually, I am a bit more concerned about [the fact that] I would have loved us to have played better, to be honest. That's my main issue tonight. In a football way more aggressive."

Kieran King