Pablo Dóvalo, the standard bearer of the sentences favorable to Barracas: his long history at the helm of Chiqui Tapia’s team

“I spoke to the players before the match. I told them we were playing against 14. We knew it. It is like a stream that warns you that it will rob you and goes to rob you.“. A Carlos Tevez the one seen in the press conference after the controversial draw between Independiente and Barracas Central was unleashed. The culprit in the perception of Apache and his team was clear: the referee Pablo Dovalo. It would be at the same time as the accusations that a curious statistic came to light: Guapo is the club that Dóvalo has coached the most times in his career.

A total of 24 opportunities They are the ones the 47-year-old referee had to administer justice in a match played at Barracas Central. This is a much lower number than that of Lanús, the second team he has refereed the most times, with 15 occasions.

However, a detail to consider is that of Dóvalo’s routes with the team he presided over Matías Tapia They crossed paths in promotion, a category in which he was also involved in some controversies in favor of Barracas.

During those two dozen games in which they saw each other’s faces, El Guapo has won 11, drawn 10 and lost only three games. A new peculiarity that stands out is this During the 2021/22 season Dóvalo was appointed director on seven occasions in Guapo in the same campaign. In them he achieved four wins and three draws.

Furthermore, another detail that has been brought to light is that Barracas is the team to which Dóvalo conceded the most penalties, for a total of five.

Even those who were in the eye of the storm due to the controversy are Luis Wolf Medina, who was in charge of VAR during the match against Independiente. And the couple designated for the match is also strengthened by directing a Guapo match. The fact is that in the controversial match in which Barracas beat Sarmiento 5-3 due to a dubious goal disallowed against Verde, the refereeing pair is the same one that Independiente complained about on Tuesday.

Referee Pablo Dóvalo, from error to provocation: did he insult a player, insult a journalist and is he suing Tevez?

The draw between Barracas Central and Independiente was marked by controversy everywhere. And the one who remained in the eye of the storm for his decisions was the referee Pablo Dóvalo, which aroused the convinced annoyance of the entire red team and of Carlos Tevez who exploded on social networks. But the actions of the referee gave something to talk about again after 90 minutes: He flew into a rage when he railed against a player who had complained to him after the match, sent off a Rossoneri player and even attacked a journalist who tried to ask him a question.

After Alexis Domínguez’s shot Ivan Marcone which was worth a red card, plus two dubious plays in the Barracas area in which all of Independiente claimed a penalty, Dóvalo experienced the consequences of the reprimands from the red players.

The first one the referee had to deal with was Marcone through a heated argument in the middle of the pitch as soon as the match ended. But Dóvalo did not mince words and began making decisions without filters. “You’re expelled, you’re expelled“he told the midfielder after his protests.

However, the worst part would come from Joaquin Laso. The defender was one of the players most outraged by Dóvalo’s refereeing, who at that moment was already showing signs of having no patience. And he said it clearly.

“You’re the bitch, you’re the same bitch as always. I know you as an Italian, I’ve known you for 20 years, Laso.”, the judge sentenced the central defender after receiving insults from him. The situation reached such a high level that Laso had to be separated from his teammates so that nothing could degenerate.

For Marcone’s part, when he was informed of the expulsion and left the locker room to leave the stadium with the team, he did not hesitate to attack the referee’s performance again. “We knew this would happen, the company should have acted sooner” he outlined.

Even his teammate Laso did not remain calm after the short circuit he experienced on the playing field. Despite the passing of the hours, the crossfire between the protagonists does not stop and the central defender has come out again through his social networks. “Did they take him away under guard? I thought they arrested him,” he wrote in an Instagram story.

The event the defender refers to is when Dóvalo left the stadium surrounded by journalists. This is exactly when the embarrassment referees-players was still on the surface, another episode awaited the referee on Tuesday evening: He had to deal with the journalists who were waiting for him to speak at the exit of the stadium, with whom he had another altercation.

A small group of journalists immediately followed Dóvalo’s exit with microphones accompanied by municipal police officers. At the beginning, however, everything seemed like it would be expressed in a few simple statements in response to the questions they asked him.

“I did not see anything“It was one of the judge’s first rulings on the foul against Marcone that could have ended in a red card. But the atmosphere gradually increased as the consultations became relevant.”Can you let me walk, please? Do you understand or don’t you understand what I’m saying? Did I go and see the screen?“he asked rhetorically, showing signs of tiredness.

Regarding Tevez’s statements against him, Dóvalo said: “I don’t know what anger is, I don’t know who’s angry, I have no idea. It’s his opinion, I couldn’t hear it. Tevez can say whatever he wants. I’m used to it, it’s very easy to talk, talking is free“.

However, Dóvalo’s patience ran out again when a reporter crossed his path to ask him one last question. Faced with the situation, the referee stopped, looked at him carefully and alerted security: “Can you get it out of this guy?“.

“Can’t you ask?“, retorted the reporter. “NO“Dóvalo replied without thinking.

In these conditions, the referee was surrounded by security men and it put an end to an evening that had everything but which seems to continue throughout the day on Wednesday. Rumor has it that Dóvalo would not let the statements against him pass and I would analyze going to court, supported by the Argentine Referees Association, to denounce Tevez and Marcone. It seems to be the beginning of a long novel.