Last weekend, in the Spanish National Championship (La Liga), a controversial situation occurred in the match between Espanyol and Real Madrid. In the 60th minute, Kylian Mbappe received the ball from the middle of the field, with a lot of space to accelerate. However, Carlos Romero of the home team flew from behind, aiming both feet towards the French striker to block.
Witnessing that play, 99.99% believed that a red card would be drawn, because it was too rough and dangerous. However, the winning rate belonged to the remaining 0.01%. Referee Muniz Ruiz only pulled out a yellow card. Even VAR did not change the decision. The anger from Real Madrid multiplied when it was Romero who scored the late goal, bringing victory to Espanyol.
In recent days, Real Madrid has launched a total attack on both the Spanish Football Federation and the referee team, because Romero himself admitted that "I knew I couldn't stop Mbappe" - meaning that he had the intention to commit a foul, while the referee interpreted it as an unintentional act.
On the afternoon of February 5, in the early match of round 13 of LPBank V.League 2024-2025, like Real Madrid, Hanoi Club also suffered a defeat at the Nam Dinh Green Steel Stadium, but it was a reverse loss after Pham Tuan Hai received a red card in the first half's extra time. It is worth mentioning that, in the dispute and speed race with his national team teammate Nguyen Phong Hong Duy, Tuan Hai did not have any malicious behavior, just a step back and stepped on the back of the home team defender's ankle.
Initially, it was a yellow card, but after reviewing VAR, referee Mai Xuan Hung erased the yellow card and gave a direct red card. Coach Hoang Van Phuc, perhaps with the agreement of many others, said that the yellow card was reasonable, but on the other side, Mr. Vu Hong Viet affirmed that "the red card was correct" because "it happened in front of me".
Here, it is not about who is right or wrong, but about respect for opinions and decisions. But when putting two situations side by side, based on the law and other aspects - the situation of the ball, the subjectivity in behavior... let's say, if the positions of the two referees were changed, would they make the same decision as their colleague?
Assuming is still assuming, it doesn't change anything, it's just that sometimes teams will have to accept and accept decisions that - from their perspective - are very unreasonable.
