‘This is an opportunity for UEFA to open this black box’ | Relief

Mateu Laos as you’ve never seen it before. The former referee, now Movistar Plus+’s controversy specialist, gave a heartfelt speech expressing his absolute outrage at the penalty awarded to Lille at the Metropolitano. A step that brought agreement between believers and strangers. He allegedly noted that Koke lightly touched the France international inside the penalty area, but the truth is that it was not enough. In addition, a few seconds ago another visitor touched the ball with his hand. An inexplicable case… It wasn’t even considered by VAR.

For this reason, a person with the experience of Mateu Laos wanted to look back to remember an event that he had to experience first-hand. In this case, he uses it to shout that the referees also need and want help from above: “In 2021, I awarded a penalty, which was not the second time I saw the players, I begged the VAR to let me watch it.. This happened in Budapest, at the European Championships, and there can be no explanation for this. Perhaps he made a mistake, perhaps he is human. VAR came to the rescue of football. His partner had very little VAR experience. “They should quickly give him the opportunity to see something he hasn’t seen before.”

This action is so clear to the referee that he does not even try to explain it. Rather, he focuses his story on the sentimental, almost emotional, as he puts it: “I want us to understand that VAR is there to help people who make mistakes. I returned home and was unable to continue the competition, begging VAR to help me. You have no idea how lucky you are to be on the grass at these competitions. When we see images on a cell phone in the locker room, our heart skips a beat. We pray to God how is it possible that two colleagues didn’t have the compassion to invite us to watch this before making a decision.“.

Flawed VAR model: “My children will ask me…”

Of course, every action has a balance of gray. Not everything is black and white, especially when viewed from different lenses. But exactly Mateu believes that this is an action. So much so that even he, after two decades on the field, cannot explain what happened in dozens of repetitions. Then consider whether what really happened was that the VAR did not want to expose his teammate.

“Please allow VAR to be a non-judgmental tool.. With shots, angles, timing that allow you to continue making a decision or change it… Grays happen in football,” Mateu Lahoz continues his extensive speech that notes the evidence: “In 20 or 30 seconds, let’s send a referee to see it. “He saw what he saw from one angle.”

Mateu Lahoz had no hesitation in suggesting that this game would leave consequences for him beyond the mistake. Due to his character, he even thinks through the journey that he will have to make through the streets: “It is impossible to explain. Tomorrow my children will ask me, and I won’t be able to explain it. VAR was born for this type of game.“.

Darkness UEFA

Another question to consider is why UEFA continues to not release audio recordings to the public, as is the case in La Liga. True, in this case it would not have been shown, because it was not a script. Despite this, Mateu Laois asks for more transparency: ‘This is an incredible opportunity for UEFA to open this black box’ and show us this conversation. “I understand, with all the constructivism in the world, that it had to be examined in 30 seconds.”

He finishes, clearly moved: “It’s a hard night, and luckily he found me here and saw that we were all suffering. (usually we contact Movistar from home). There is still no official information and we are trying with all our empathy to understand what happened. You can make mistakes on the field, that’s true. They are animals, the Champions League is a joy to watch, the game is played at incredible speed and the referees need help. VAR takes too long to just monitor the situation. People who have been there for three decades, 45 minutes later we have no argument to explain what happened.“.

A speech that from beginning to end reflects the feelings of a classic referee who now suffers from the evils of the profession from the other side. An incomprehensible action that drove Mateu Laos deeper: “When we see images on a mobile phone in the locker room, our hearts skip a beat…“.