Monday, October 7

VAR again involved in controversy due to failure in Cruz Azul vs. Xolos

Avatar of Edgardo Avelar

By Edgardo Avelar

18 Jul 2024, 01:16 AM EDT

The referee Ismael Rosario López made a serious mistake in the first half of the match where Cruz Azul beat Xolos de Tijuana 3-0as revealed by the Mexican Football Federation’s own Referee Commission, within its transparency policy that revealed the omission of a penalty in favor of the Máquina Celeste in a clear foul by defender Joe Corona on the Uruguayan from the Máquina Celeste Ignacio Rivero.

In this action that occurred in the 7th minute of the match, defender Joe Corona acted recklessly. trying to clear a ball in his area, but his foot hit the Uruguayan player’s head of the Cruz Azul players, causing a deep wound to the Uruguayan player, but even then the referee Rosario López did not dare to call the maximum penalty at first sight and being a few meters away from the action.

Audios from #VARLigaMX I J3 @CruzAzul vs. @Xolos At 7 minutes into the match, contact occurs in the Tijuana area. The central referee classifies it as normal, produced by the action of the game and after going to the VAR decides to wrongly ratify his decision.

Here you… pic.twitter.com/2ljluSEJ03

— Referees Commission (@Arbitraje_MX) July 18, 2024

But the end came when he was required by the VAR staff to review the play, but even then the referee did not decide to modify his initial marking. and left the maximum penalty undeclared. The attitude of the Nazarene contrasts with the indications of the people of this Liga MX play review system.

This was revealed by the audio released this Wednesday on social media, where Óscar Mejía, fourth referee, He requested to stop the VAR review after noticing that the Tijuana player’s foot was going towards his head from the rival, then the referee goes to the screen to analyze the play, where the point of view of Abraham de Jesús Quirarte and Edgar Magdaleno, in charge of the VAR, can be seen, confirming that there is blood and suggesting that the height of the Tijuana player’s foot be checked.

But the referee, Ismael Rosario López, the central referee, maintained his assessment that the Tijuana player “was going for the ball” and that the contact was accidental. The VAR reiterates that the Tijuana player kicked the ball and then made contact with the opponent’s head, but considers that the action is not punishable. But in the end Rosario López decides that there is no foul and that it is a “game action.”

Hours later, the Referee Commission, In his usual analysis of the actions of the match, he acknowledged that the Xolos player did not have control of his body in the action. and that with such excessive force he put the physical integrity of the Uruguayan Cruz Azul player at risk.

While it is true that the governing body of arbitration in the Liga MX admitted that the player of the visiting team did touch the ball first, but when he extends his leg he hits Ignacio Rivero’s head with his cleats.

Mexico City, July 16, 2024. Ignacio Rivero protesting during the match corresponding to matchday 3 of the 2024 Apertura tournament of the BBVA MX MX League, between the Máquina Celeste del Cruz Azul and the Xolos de Tijuana, held at the Ciudad de los Deportes stadium. Photo: Imago7 / Manlio Contreras
The Uruguayan Ignacio Rivero of Cruz Azul insisted at all times to the referee Ismael Rosario López that it had been a penalty when Xolos defender Joe Corona hit him in the head with his foot. The Colombian defender of the border team, Kevin Balanta, testifies.
Credit: Manlio Contreras | Imago7

For that reason and in light of the clear evidence, the Arbitration Commission determined that the action constituted a “serious foul play” and a penalty should have been awarded in favor of Cruz Azul. In light of these facts, the effectiveness of VAR in the Mexican football tournament and the ability of referees to make correct decisions in controversial plays are once again in a bad light.

This failure to apply the regulations, despite the weight of the evidence, It is just one more point in the serious crisis that the refereeing in the Liga MX is going through, where the head of the Commission, the former World Cup referee Armando Archundia, in his eagerness to renew the roster of referees, has decided to give the alternative to several new referees, but this has only fueled the controversy against the refereeing.

Keep reading:
-The VAR and the penalty that was not in favor of América in the last final of the Clausura 2024 tournament
-In its debut, the VAR became the protagonist of the Liga MX
-Cruz Azul destroyed Monterrey by adding the second victory of the Apertura 2024 tournament