The president of FC Porto called this Sunday to “abolish the VAR” in Portuguese football, as video referee technology was at the root of the home defeat against Gil Vicente (2-1).
“Given today’s VAR appearances [Tiago Martins] and VAR António Nobre in the last match in Vizela [vitória do Benfica no sábado, por 2-0]I make a request from here: put an end to the video referee. Having VAR for some and not for others is the opposite of the truth of the game.” said Pinto da Costa to the club’s television channel.
The ‘dragons’ lost 2-1 at home to Gil Vicente in the 22nd round of the 1st Portuguese football league, putting the defending champions eight points behind leaders Benfica, and could be overtaken by Sporting de Braga, who play on Monday.
For Pinto da Costa, “if the VAR only works for some”, it should “end”, an idea he conveyed four times, as in that scenario he “does nothing if he does not spend money and the truth of the championship”.
“The audience understood that the players gave everything. Nine against eleven was a mission impossible, especially with the duality in drawing yellow cards, which led to Uribe’s redhe considered.
“We don’t treat the referees like you do, we don’t draw their attention, we don’t even speak to them. That’s why I hope the Arbitration Board thinks carefully about what happened on this day and especially the agreements it made, because the Mr. António Nobre as VAR influenced the result by scoring a penalty against Vizela Now, in Vizela, he was distracted. I should read the verses of António Nobre”he added.
The Iranian Taremi gave the champions the advantage after just four minutes, but the Spaniard Fran Navarro, in the 27th minute, and the Brazilian Murilo, after 45+2 minutes, converted a penalty after João Mário in the ‘dragons’, with a direct red card, at 35, and Uribe also followed suit, at 52.
The president of the Porto players also asked the Arbitration Board (CA) of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) to “meditate well on what happened that day and on the agreements he made”.
Earlier, in the flash interview of Sport TV, he had already left some criticism on the arbitration. “It was a night where everything happened in reverse and in my opinion the questionable bids were very rigorous and a lot of visualization, but it has to be for both teams”shot.
About the game, the white-blue coach said that the players “gave everything” and that “the crowd did not deserve defeat”. “We started the game well, we had a goal disallowed in the beginning, a ball on the crossbar, another one by Pepê almost on the goal line. I feel we could have killed the game in the first 25 minutes Gil Vicente practically didn’t create much danger. We made a lot of shots and a goal was canceled by 30 centimeters,” he said.
“I love that the referee is called to the VAR because that’s exactly what they’re there for. It’s an important tool for football, but it has to be in all situations, not just some. That was it.” We lost a game, we didn’t lose the war, there are still many battles to the end and we are still alive and stronghe added.
Source: DN
