The VAR, it was said, has come to bring justice to football. But in the Professional League, and in many other local and international tournaments, there is still room for controversy and debate, because the interpretations of human beings are still valid, beyond the use of technology as a support. This Monday, after the penalty that allowed them to equalize racing Avellaneda’s classic on the football field Independentthe National Director of Arbitration of the AFA, Frederick Beligoysupported the decision of Yael Falcon Perez and ratified him as “host” referee of the Sub 20 World Championship to be held in Argentina in a month’s time.

Beligoy started his argument “The most important and crucial thing is that there is a strong and successful decision on the pitch”as if the VAR did not exist. “Falcón Pérez saw the play, he understood that it was a penalty, he clearly saw that the push extended inside the area and that the Independiente player fell on top of the Racing one”he argued, in statements to ESPN.

“From there, as in the four revisable situations that the VAR protocol has, it begins to look for angles to certify that geographically the foul was inside the area. We worked with two cameras, with one we were looking for the point of contact and how far that went point of contact, from there with another camera – in this case the 1650 on the large area line – you can see that it was clearly on the line and even further inside”completed Beligoy.

“There is no reason why Yael, who is a hyper-professional referee, who has been appointed and will host the next Under-20 World Cup, has worked hard to achieve this.”assured on the alleged involvement of the judge in the prelude to the classic by Avellaneda.

The debate game

El Rojo and the Academy drew in the hottest Avellaneda classic in recent times. In the 35th minute of the first half, Independiente beat Racing at home, with a goal from Martín Cauteruccio. Jonathan Gómez’s ball went for Facundo Mura on the edge of the big box from behind and Nicolás Vallejo shoved it with little cunning. Mura went down in the box and referee Yael Falcón Pérez didn’t hesitate to charge a penalty. But the question immediately arose: was the offense internal or external?

That there was a lack, there is no question. The question was whether Vallejo pushed him before or after he crossed the penalty area line. This is why there was a review at the VAR, by Dario Herrera. There was no need for the main judge to go to the monitor as Ezeiza informed him that the maximum penalty that Matías Rojas executed was well sanctioned and changed to 1-1.

In any case, the images from the different cameras offered by the television broadcast were not entirely clear and it could not be seen with certainty that the thrust was actually inside or, failing that, on the line. Instead, the flaw appeared to be more like a few inches on the outside.

Although there was a protest from Independiente, the most effusive denunciation came when the players of the Reds left the dressing rooms towards the pitch after half-time. There, they all went to Falcón Pérez to tell him it wasn’t a penalty. Sure, in the locker room they had watched the show on their phones.

It was late. Beyond the protest, nothing could be done. The referee explained to local officials, including Ivan Marcone and Cauteruccio, that although the drive had started outside the area, it ended up on the line and that was why the penalty had been called. “The foul is charged when you finish pushing it,” the judge repeated.