VAR audio released after Racing’s controversial penalty vs Peñarol | OneFootball

The Conmebol released the audio of the VAR from one of the major controversies in Racing's big win against Peñarol in the second leg of the Copa Libertadores round of 16: the penalty awarded for a foul on Maravilla Martínez.

Emanuel Gularte slightly pushed the Academy's top scorer from behind, and Wilmar Roldán called a foul inside the area at the 35th minute of the second half. The forward converted it into a goal: it was the 2-1 in favor of Costas' team, who later turned the series around with Franco Pardo's last-minute goal.

According to Conmebol, «the attacker in the white and light blue shirt receives a reckless foul from the defender, who acts without caution by hitting with the arm on the nape and charges the attacker from behind, which is why the referee awards a penalty kick».

In the communication later released by the Confederation, Chilean Juan Lara - in charge of the VAR - first warned of a «possible foul» and «possible hand». Then, he focused on Gularte's foul on Maravilla. «A charge on the back, he reports. Perfect. Here is the penalty. With this, I've got it».

«Player 17 disregards the ball and I have a forearm on the back of the neck and on the body. It is a charge from behind, reckless for me. Aerial ball, defender completely disregards the ball, goes and charges him from behind. And it's exactly what Wilmar reports», he added. And concluded: «There it is, he has the forearm on the neck and also the charge from behind».

Regarding this, midfielder David Terans, who scored the only goal in the first leg, strongly criticized Roldán. «I feel like we were kicked out of the Copa Libertadores», said the offensive midfielder of the yellow and black team.

And he continued: «I don't like to talk about referees, but honestly it was a disaster. A penalty that only he saw, then no one saw it in the stadium. He doesn't know who he awarded it to». Then he concluded: «Well, what can you do? We have to keep working now».

Another who spoke was Javier Méndez, central midfielder of Peñarol who blocked Rojas' shot in the play following the penalty awarded to Maravilla Martínez: «It wasn't a penalty, the referee tells me that I committed the foul».

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.