Surely getting the decision right is the main thing?
Argentine league referee Germán Delfino could be handed a suspension after his decision to overturn a penalty and a sending off in a match between Velez Sarsfield and Arsenal Sarandi, after his assistant watched a replay of the incident on a pitchside screen.
With the match finely poised at 1-1, Delfino awarded a spot-kick to hosts Velez for an apparent handball by defender Daniel Valencia, who received a second yellow card for the offence.
But amidst Arsenal protests, a lineman spotted a replay of the incident that showed it was in fact the Velez player whose hand struck the ball and radioed the man in the middle, who reversed his decision and ushered Valencia back onto the field.
The extraordinary scenes led to coaches and players surrounding the referee and Velez captain Fabian Cubero giving a live, on-pitch interview arguing against the reversal.
Velez manager Miguel Angel Russo was furious and after the game said: ‘Delfino has every right to change his decision,” Russo said. “But by his own decision, not off the television. The Fifa rules are very clear, they don’t accept technology… If cameras are to exist then let them be used for everyone.’
For his part, Delfino apologised for the manner in which the saga unfolded but was glad the right decision was made in the end.
‘You’ve got to be strong. I changed the decision because of my colleague, we are a team,’ he said. ‘If it was handball by Pavone then I’m happy that there was justice… but it was sloppy and I’m responsible. The procedure was horrible. It can’t happen like this.’
Velez recovered to win the game 2-1, while Valencia was eventually given his marching orders in the 95th minute.
[h/t Mirror]
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