The 44-year-old Italian official was in the booth for tonight’s match at the Allianz Arena in Munich, the second leg after a 5-4 thriller in Paris last week.
Di Bello representing Italy in Champions League
He infuriated Bayern Munich coach Vincent Kompany and the fans when deciding not to intervene after the ball clearly struck Joao Neves on the outstretched arm.
Referee Joao Pinheiro of Portugal had also not pointed to the spot for the incident, but he waited for confirmation from Di Bello and was told to play on.
This caused a huge amount of controversy in the media and in the stadium itself, but the IFAB rules show Di Bello was right not to suggest an On-Field Review.
It is because the ball was fired onto Joao Neves’ arm by PSG teammate Vitinha.
No penalty for Bayern Munich ❌
The referee waves away the handball appeals as play continues!
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— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) May 6, 2026
In their bid to clarify the handball rules, IFAB added a caveat to the laws of the gamenoting specifically that it is not a handling offence if a player is “hit on the hand/arm by the ball which has been played by a team-mate (unless the ball goes directly into the opponents’ goal or the player scores immediately afterwards, in which case a direct free-kick is awarded to the other team).”
When it came to another handball row earlier on Nuno Mendes and PSG wanted a second yellow card, Di Bello could not get involved, as the VAR is not allowed to deal with bookings unless they are to be upgraded to straight red cards.
TWO huge handball shouts from Bayern Munich ✋
The referee gives neither ❌ pic.twitter.com/FTyTUmnwQM
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) May 6, 2026
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