Spain’s Football Association (RFEF) has lodged a complaint to Spanish Police after VAR audio conversations from Sunday’s match between Real Madrid and Almeria, which included several controversial refereeing decisions, were leaked to local media, the RFEF announced on Tuesday.
The audio includes an interaction between on-pitch referee Francisco Jose Hernandez Maeso and VAR official Alejandro Hernandez Hernandez about a possible red card for Vinicius Jr for hitting an opponent in the face.
There was no infringement called on the field and the play was not reviewed, so the VAR conversations between the officials should have remained private. Only official reviews are released to the general public.
“The RFEF, which is conducting an internal investigation into the incident, considers that it is extremely serious that this audiovisual material has been extracted and hopes that a response will be found as soon as possible in order to determine who is responsible,” the RFEF said in a statement.
The audio leaks fanned the flames of what was already a highly controversial match in which Real snatched a come-from-behind 3-2 win over bottom side Almeria.
They did it thanks to a Dani Carvajal strike in the ninth-minute of stoppage time in a frantic LaLiga tussle that was marked by VAR controversy, with three debatable decisions that awarded Real a goal and a penalty and ruled out an Almeria effort.
Sunday’s refereeing made headlines and sparked major debate in a country in which soccer authorities and refereeing officials have been under the microscope due to several scandals.
“Robbery,” read a front-page headline by the Barcelona-based Mundo Deportivo sports daily on Monday. “Referees gift Madrid the victory.”
Barcelona president Joan Laporta strongly criticized the incidents during Madrid’s game.
“What happened at the Bernabeu was shameful,” he said Monday. “The refereeing community has to respond to the pressure that has been put on the referees this season. If it doesn’t, we will be very concerned.”
Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez said “everyone saw what happened” at the Bernabeu.
“I had already said it, it’s going to be very difficult to win this league,” Xavi said after Barcelona’s 4-2 win at Real Betis later Sunday. “There are things that are not making sense to me.”
(With inputs from Agencies)
Comments
0 comment