Former Serie A referee Giampaolo Calvarese believes that Bayern Munich Sadio Manè should not have been punished for a hand ball offence in the final UEFA Champions League group stage match against Inter.
Speaking in an interview with Italian broadcaster Rado Deejay, as reported by FCInter1908.it earlier today, the former Serie A referee believes that a hand ball offence is subjective and in this case, the Bayern Munich player did not make his body bigger when stopping the ball.
“The only area where subjectivity remains is with the handball offence. The [Manè] handball is never punishable because he went to protect his face from the ball and didn’t lose his body shape.
“The VAR meant that there was a movement by his hands towards the ball that seemed like a save or a block but it wasn’t like this. He moved his hands to protect his face.
“It would have been punishable if he enlarged his body shape to stop the ball. It is not punishable at all and in fact, the match referee maintained his original decision,” concluded the former Italian referee.
Inter ended up losing their final UEFA Champions League group stage against Bayern Munich with a score of 2-0 after goals from Benjamin Pavard and Eric Maxim Chupo-Moting.
Giampaolo Calvarese started his referee career in 2008 and continued until his retirement in 2021. He was chosen to referee the 2019 Italian Supercup between Juventus and Lazio.
Following his referee career, Calvarese transitioned into broadcaster and he appears an analyst for Amazon Prime Video in Italy during UEFA Champions League matches.
