chaos, shouting and a “brave decision” | Relief

The agreement between La Liga and the Referees’ Technical Committee (CTA) for the distribution of audio recordings only applies to actions in which the on-field referee approaches the monitor to watch the game. Nevertheless, Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) circulated through its official channels an incident that was outside the normal procedure. This is audio from Positional offside by Saul Niguez during a disallowed goal against Stefan Savic in the EA Sports La Liga derby between Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid on February 4.

On a weekly basis, the CTA gathers its members to jointly analyze the most significant games of each day with the goal of, among other things, defining and unifying criteria. And also, in this case, highlight successes such as those of José María Sánchez Martínez and Raúl Cabañero Martínez, referee and assistant for the Madrid derby at the Santiago Bernabeu. Because if the call to action in the video demonstrates anything, it’s that the right decision was made.

The play that Live, this confused even the judges themselves., as evidenced by a conversation revealed by RFEF. “Possible offside“Cabañero Martinez screamed repeatedly as the ball entered the goal defended by Andrei Lunin.”It’s coming from around the corner! Finish straight“,” he replies. Sanchez MartinezDemonstrating this, From his point of view, he did not see Saul’s interference in the actions of the Ukrainian goalkeeper.. The Murcian referee’s mistrust is explained by the fact that there is never an advanced position directly from a corner, as well as after a goal kick and throw-in.

“Jose, but he’s not the one who finishes, the player is standing in front of Lunin,” his assistant clarifies.

. Faced with the noise, Sanchez Martinez tried to calm the players. “Wait, Lunin, I know, I know,” he tells him before walking over to his linesman’s position. “For me it’s offside due to Lunin’s interference,” insists Raul Cabanero. As a result, the goal was canceled without the intervention of VAR (Prieto Iglesias). The decision to disallow the goal was later confirmed from the VOR room.as Sanchez Martinez conveyed to the players: “When Savic hits, there is a player in front of Lunin. Therefore, it is offside due to interference.“, he comments in a group that included Morata, Koke, Carvajal, Nacho and Kroos.

The entire performance was captured on video broadcast by RFEF. In addition, it contains a calmer analysis of the participants in the action. “I would like to note the excellent decision that was made on the field. and, above all, Raoul. This is a difficult game because intervention situations require our cooperation. The decision he made She was brave and successful.” says Sanchez Martinez about his teammate.

“As with my work with VAR, I understood that there were two important issues at that time: keeping the communication channel as clear as possible and in terms of VAR procedure and protocol. If the decision on the field is not made, we, as VARs, cannot intervene. in any decision,” says Eduardo Prieto Iglesias, present in the VOR room.