CTA allegedly acknowledges two refereeing mistakes in Madrid's favour

The Real Madrid-Almeria match has left a constant barrage of criticism towards the refereeing body for the performance of Hernandez Maeso, accompanied by his colleagues at the Santiago Bernabeu and the VAR, for the various controversial actions that took place during the match. Three highlighted actions that were called into question at the final whistle: was it a handball by Kaiky, was Lopy's challenge on Bellingham a foul, was Vinicius' goal a handball?

'El Larguero' director Manu Carreno explained on his programme what the CTA's standpoint is after having analysed all the controversial plays. According to the Technical Committee of Referees, with Medina Cantalejo at the helm, Hernandez Maeso was right in one of the actions and wrong in the other two.

The first notable move came in the 53rd minute, when Fran Garcia's cross from the left flank found Antonio Rudiger, who rose to meet the ball and headed straight at Kaiky's hand. The German centre-back could have fouled Edgar, whom he had been pushing in that previous jump, and also a similar foul by Joselu. Hernandez Maeso went to the VAR to review that moment, but, according to the CTA, he did not finish assessing everything that happened (that focus on Rudiger and Joselu) to give the goal as valid. For the referees, their decision to allow the goal to go up on the scoreboard was a mistake.

The CTA accepts the referee's interpretation of Almeria's disallowed goal for a previous foul by Lopy on Bellingham. The referees believe that there was clear contact between the Almeria midfielder and the Englishman and that, therefore, the goal was disallowed, at least in their opinion.

The other refereeing mistake in that match, among those three key plays, was in Real Madrid's equaliser. According to the CTA, not for not discerning whether Vinicius hit the ball with his hand or with his shoulder, which is difficult to determine 100%, but the referees believe that the error was in the judgment of the VAR, in charge of Hernandez Hernandez, for calling the main referee to see the replay in which "it is not at all clear" whether he scored with his hand or with his arm.

 

January 23, 2024