Alan Shearer slams nonsense handball law in PSG vs Bayern Munich controversy

Paris Saint-Germain were awarded a penalty in controversial fashion, when the ball ricocheted off his leg and onto his arm in his own area - with Alan Shearer lambasting UEFA's laws

Alan Shearer was quick to slam UEFA's penalty laws when a controversial spot-kick was awarded to Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday evening. Les Parisiens played host to Bayern Munich in the semi-finals of the Champions League, Sandro Schärer overseeing the encounter.

At the end of an action-packed first-half and locked at 2-2 thanks to goals from Harry Kane, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Joao Neves and Michael Olise, Alphonso Davies looked to have accidentally handled the ball in his own box. Ousmane Dembele looked to whip the ball into the area when it clashed with the leg of the full-back before hitting his arm.

While Dembele was quick to appeal for a foul, Schärer initially saw nothing in the incident. However, when VAR intervened and asked the Swiss official to take a second look at the pitchside monitor, he backtracked on his original decision, awarding the penalty to PSG.

And it didn't take Shearer long to vent his frustration with the decision, lambasting UEFA's laws of the game. He said, on commentary for Amazon Prime Video: "Once you see that deflection onto his arm, then that for me, shouldn't be a penalty.

"He's give it. I don't agree with that, I really don't agree with it. Once it comes off his leg onto his arm, then for me, that's a different story.

"If it hits his arm then okay, I might accept. But once it comes of a different part of his body onto his arm, what's he meant to do?"

Former referee, Mark Clattenburg, then said: "I agree with you, Alan, but we've seen it time and time again over the last two seasons. Something that we always discuss, it's highly controversial.

"But when you see it come from that body, the leg onto the arm - even though the arm's came away from the body - I don't believe they should be given, and I agree with Alan."

Giving a truly blunt verdict, Shearer responded: "I think handballs are nonsense. I think they've tied themselves up in knots over the years, trying to get somewhere which is fair. And I don't think that is, but there you go."

Shearer wasn't the only English pundit at the match who thought Bayern had been treated unfairly as a result of the penalty, either. Speaking at half-time, Wayne Rooney argued: "I don't think it's a penalty.

"His hand's behind his back, and he does move his hand out when the cross comes in, but I think it comes off his right thigh and onto his arm. Maybe the rules are different in Europe, I don't know, but for me, it's not a penalty."

He added: "I just think it's a little bit unfair. Yeah, he's put his arm out, but then the ball has completely changed direction and hits his right thigh, which he cant get out the way, and then it diverts the ball onto his arm. It doesn't make sense why you should give a penalty for that."

While the law of the Premier League stipulates that if a ball deflects off a player's body and then onto their arm it is not a foul, UEFA rules differ in a sense that a small deflection is overruled by a movement of the arm.