In the first half of the Champions League final, Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka sparked outrage after he was not penalized for taking what appeared to be a handball shot inside his own area. The Gunners took an early 1-0 lead with Kai Havertz’s superb sixth-minute goal at Budapest’s Puskas Arena. However, PSG were denied a penalty and leveled the score just 10 minutes later when the ball bounced off a corner and appeared to hit Saka in the arm.
When attempting to clear the ball, the England winger missed the kick. The ball hit Saka in the upper chest and into his right arm. TNT Sports co-commentator Ally McCoist responded: “Yeah, it hit his right arm. It probably hit his left arm as well.” German referee Daniel Siebert rejected PSG’s penalty request, but some on social media claimed officials had overlooked what they believed to be a “blatant” penalty for the French giants.
@CFC_Dubois was furious: “That’s a blatant handball by Saka. They get away with everything.” @AbsoluteBruno said: “Isn’t this a penalty?? It’s clearly a handball by Saka.” @TheBallZoneX also posted, “This is the clearest penalty in history. It’s a double handball.”
@Tunnykvng added: “This is clearly a handball by Saka. Why not a penalty?” @idoxvi said, “Saka is lucky but the rules are stupid.” And @Bk8iP3 wrote: “Why didn’t PSG get a pen from Saka?”
As the ball struck Saka in the chest first, the contact appears to have been deemed accidental rather than punishable. But that wasn’t an opinion shared by viewers.
TNT’s half-time pundits were made up of former Arsenal players Jack Wilshere and Martin Keown, who both thought Saka’s alleged handball did not merit a penalty.
Keown said: “No. I think the referee has a great view on this. We’re looking at it at full speed there. I mean, we’ve seen penalties given this season, especially in the Champions League, but it’s probably a lesser penalty.”
Wilshere interjected: “You don’t want to see them given. It’s not a penalty for me.” Keown added: “I don’t think so. Not mentally. He just threw his arm.”
Co-commentator McCoist responded: “No, no, it doesn’t concern me. I think it’s a coincidence. I don’t think there’s any benefit at all. I don’t think PSG got any benefit. I don’t think they want a penalty for that. It’s just my opinion.”
Steven Gerrard, who was sitting next to him, prefaced this by saying: “Even as a biased Liverpudlian, I don’t think that was a pen. I don’t want to see it given away for that reason.”
There was also discussion about the build-up to Havertz’s goal. The ball hit the hands of Leandro Trossard, who then scored the goal.
However, as Marquinhos smashed the ball into Trossard’s chest from close range, it was ruled that there was no handball foul.
