VAR who generously gave England penalty is back on officiating duties for final

The VAR official responsible for upholding the decision to award England a penalty against Denmark will be on duty for the Euro 2020 final, despite the controversial call at Wembley.

The Three Lions advanced to their first major tournament final in 55 years following a dramatic victory over the Danes on Wednesday night, in which Harry Kane snatched the winner after slotting home a rebound from a missed penalty.

The spot kick was awarded after Raheem Sterling appeared to be hauled down by Joakim Maehle as he advanced into the penalty area, although replays showed that there was minimal contact on the Manchester City forward.

However, VAR official Pol Van Boekel opted to uphold referee Danny Makkelie's decision, to the furore of the Danes and a host of fans from across Europe as England moved one step closer to winning the competition.

On Thursday, Uefa announced that Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers will officiate the showpiece event between England and Italy on Sunday, and eagle eyed fans spotted a familiar name among the list of officials involved for the final.

Despite heavy criticism for not intervening at the crucial moment, Van Boekel will be involved on Sunday, with the Dutchman assisting German official Bastian Dankert with VAR.

Reaction to the penalty has been heavily one-sided across Europe, with Italian media claiming that the spot kick was given as a favour to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson for helping stop the European Super League.

'The very generous penalty that allowed the Southgate national team to eliminate Denmark confirms the suspicions about the exchange of favours for Boris Johnson, considered the saviour of European football after the attack on the Super League,' Gazzetta dello Sport wrote.

In their explanation, Gazzetta described the foul for the penalty - on Raheem Sterling - as 'bordering on the non-existent'.

And the newspaper were not the only ones seemingly furious with the decision to hand the Three Lions a spot-kick.

One fan was so enraged he decided to set up a petition to UEFA with change.org to try and get the match replayed.

The 'Rematch England vs Denmark' petition started by Cris Pinto reads: 'We wish to overule the penalty decision against Denmark. It was a wrong call, there needs to be contact for a penalty and there was absolutely no contact. If this is not overuled, it would show a failure by UEFA and the beautiful game of football.'

Meanwhile, a popular Spanish football TV programme has accused UEFA of 'conditioning' Euro 2020 for England to reach the final - and even insisted the Three Lions' decisive penalty against Denmark highlighted the bias.

El Chiringuito, famed for their infamous post-match rants, believe the decision to award Raheem Sterling a controversial penalty against Denmark is a clear sense of favouritism.

Journalist Roberto Morales, a guest on the show, also suggested that the tournament should not have been held in England because of Brexit.

El Chiringuito host Josep Pedrerol, who went viral after slamming Eden Hazard for laughing after Real Madrid's Champions League loss to Chelsea earlier this year, asked Morales: 'You think UEFA organised this for an England final?'

The journalist responded: 'For me, this has been the most shameful competition that we have covered. It has been pathetic.

'We've had matches in cities that aren't even European in any sense. We've got a final that was prepared for a country that left the European Union.

'It has been totally prepared. They've played every game at home except one. It has been totally conditioned for England.

'All that was missing was the help received (on Wednesday) with the penalty in a game that was proving complicated.'

England are bidding to win their first tournament since 1966 when they take on a rampant Italy side in front of 60,000 fans at Wembley this weekend.