The Ref Stop

Messi(y)

The Ref Stop
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...e-argentina-suspension-after-rant-at-official

Anyone know more about this? Seems he was not sent off for offinabus but later reported and suspended. No red card because he's special??
Seems more like "suspended because he's special".

There's nothing in the match report and referee and assistants told press they didn't hear anything special, just the normal complaints and gestures. Suspension for dissent apparently only based on tv images. This is a first?
 
This does seem like a slightly strange one. Various reports do indeed claim that there was nothing in the match officials report and that FIFA based this on video evidence. The statement on FIFA's website does not confirm (or deny) this, it simply announces the decision.

More troubling perhaps (if true) is the allegation carried on some sites, including Sports Illustrated, that:
CONMEBOL, South America’s governing body, reportedly only acted after Chile, which had lost 1-0 to Argentina, sent the confederation a video of the tirade.

Full article here:
https://www.si.com/planet-futbol/20...ntina-four-games-world-cup-qualifying-referee

While I don't agree with everything else that SI says in their opinion piece, I do share their concern that this could set a troubling precedent. As they say:
Is this to be the future of the game, associations desperately hunting through tapes to find evidence that will get a rival player banned for key matches?
 
This does seem like a slightly strange one. Various reports do indeed claim that there was nothing in the match officials report and that FIFA based this on video evidence. The statement on FIFA's website does not confirm (or deny) this, it simply announces the decision.

More troubling perhaps (if true) is the allegation carried on some sites, including Sports Illustrated, that:


Full article here:
https://www.si.com/planet-futbol/20...ntina-four-games-world-cup-qualifying-referee

While I don't agree with everything else that SI says in their opinion piece, I do share their concern that this could set a troubling precedent. As they say:
A slight tangent Peter but, linking this with another thread, couldn't it also be argued that this is an example of video assistance helping the authorities get a decision right?
I have limited in-depth knowledge of South American/CONMEBOL politics but I'd suggest that since the death of AFA president Julio Grondona in 2014, the AFA influence in CONMEBOL has waned somewhat and the other federations are emboldened to speak out a little bit more. I'd say these things happened all the time even before Grondona's death but his omnipresent power probably quashed the protest at step 1. Let's not forget he took over as El Presidente of AFA in 1979 at the height of the military junta and remained in power for the next 35 years! Given the social turbulence in Argentina alone, that's some achievement.
 
A slight tangent Peter but, linking this with another thread, couldn't it also be argued that this is an example of video assistance helping the authorities get a decision right?
Somehow, I don't quite think it falls within the parameters of the VAR protocol.
 
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