The explanation for why West Ham was denied a late penalty in their Europa League loss to Freiburg has been made public. At the Europa-Park Stadion, David Moyes’ team had missed their opportunities and was trailing 1-0 going into the final minutes after Michael Gregoritsch scored a late goal for the home team. The Hammers appeared to have been given a lifeline with four minutes remaining in stoppage time when the referee appeared to handle the ball inside the box and spoke with VAR on a possible penalty.
ESPN writer Dale Johnson claims that the referee decided against calling a penalty because handball is an exception to the rules.
He clarifies that the ball was originally kicked by Weisshaupt, made contact with Tomas Soucek, and rebounded onto his arm before the referee made his decision.
Examining the referee’s perspective of the VAR replay seems to validate this, since the final angle unambiguously depicts Weisshaupt initiating contact on purpose instead than Soucek.
The decision-making procedure necessitated a further extension of stoppage time, but in the end the Hammers failed to equalise.
Moyes will be hoping that his team performs far better on Thursday when they play the Bundesliga team at the London Stadium.
