Why did VAR not intervene in the Guler incident? The referees' committee justifies: we follow the television broadcast!
The directing scandal saves Real Madrid!
Real Madrid's emphatic 4-1 win over Sevilla at the Santiago Bernabeu was not the standout event of the night. A controversial incident involving Turkish star Arda Guler once again threw open the door to the crisis surrounding officiating and video technology in Spain.
Real Madrid faced their first real test without Vinicius Junior, suspended after the incident in which he pulled the hair of Villarreal defender Saliba. Jose Mourinho threw new signing Diomande into the starting line-up, and the Ivorian stole the limelight with a superb goal that ignited the passion of the Bernabeu.
Guler kept up his fine form too. He produced another big performance with a stunning goal, confirming his right to a place in the starting line-up ahead of a decisive week that ends with the Clasico against Barcelona.
Then, in a single first-half moment, the Turkish star turned from hero to accused. He appeared to catch Sevilla's Peque with his elbow, igniting the anger of the visiting fans, who immediately demanded his sending off.
Play stopped for a VAR review. The surprise was that referee Mateo Busquets Ferrer did not recommend a trip to the pitchside monitor, to everyone's astonishment, because no clear replay was shown. All the footage came from very distant angles that did not clarify what really happened.
Facing a wave of anger, the technical committee of referees broke its silence with a controversial explanation, reported by journalist Hector Gonzalez on the programme "Carrusel Canalla" on "Cadena Ser" radio. Committee sources confirmed that "the VAR cameras are the same as the television broadcast cameras", and that all available footage had been examined.
It added: "If there was no intervention, it is because there is no evidence that points clearly and beyond dispute to violent conduct", implicitly admitting that the video room could not see the incident clearly, exactly as the viewers could not.
That justification did not convince officiating expert Iturralde Gonzalez, who exploded in anger on the programme "Carrusel Deportivo", saying: "I can't see whether he struck him in the face or how hard the blow was. The images are pathetic. If the blow was to the chest and there was no excessive force, then it's a yellow card. But in the face it's a different matter, it is enough that it is not minor for it to be a red card".
Iturralde closed his fiery remarks with a scathing attack on the entire system: "The assistant referee and the fourth official must watch the referee's blind spot because he cannot have eyes everywhere. The production is pathetic, and it is also pathetic that in a stadium like the Bernabeu we watch a possible assault without a clear image".
