An experienced judge incensed Lina Lehtovaara’s reaction to the Spaniards’ heated up – tells why the judgment that caused a stir at the European Championships was correct

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England defeated Spain in the quarter-finals of the European football championships after the overtime match 2–1. Spain led the match until England scored an equalizer in the 85th minute, which sent the Spaniards into a frenzy.

They had to be calmed down by the fourth referee of the match Lina Lehtovaara. Spain’s backup goalkeeper Misa Rodriguez received a yellow card after the situation, for which he continued to bite Lehtovara.

– What I saw from the TV pictures, Lehtovaara’s actions looked commendable – commendable plus even, an experienced referee Matthias Gestranius says.

He works as a top referee coach of the Football Association. Gestranius is also the referee in charge of Veikkausliiga and Ykkönen.

English Alessia Russo and Spain Irene Paredes were fighting for the ball when Russo put his hand on Paredes’ shoulder. According to the Spanish players, there was a fault in the situation.

Gestranius, who has finished his career as a referee, states that football is not a black and white game.

– And that’s fine. I’ve talked a lot about the gray area in football. I think that in that situation there were grounds that it was not a fault. At the same time, there are certainly reasons that it would have been a failure.

The video referee (VAR) also checked the situation, but the referee’s decision was not changed. Gestranius reminds that VAR does not judge the game again, but intervenes in “obvious and significant mistakes”.

– Even if the referee had ruled the situation a foul, VAR probably wouldn’t have intervened either. The situation was in a gray area, so basically both judgments would have been there.

Watch the battle between Russo and Paredes in the video below.

When emotions get heated, the fourth referee has a big responsibility in calming the situation. “Nelonen” talks and tries with his own personality to calm the emotional turmoil, Gestranius says.

– I would highlight Lina Lehtovaara’s contribution. Spain’s protests ended quite quickly, perhaps because Lehtovaara remained strict and announced that this kind of behavior is not ok. If it had been accepted, we could have been in even greater trouble.

According to Gestranius, the fourth referee’s most important task is to be an extra pair of eyes for the events on the field. In addition, it is essential to monitor that in the technical areas the activities of the background troops are sportsmanlike.

For example, the behavior of reserve goalkeeper Lisa Rodriguez was worthy of a warning.

– Based on the TV image, I would have been surprised if the matter had not been addressed. Lehtavaara took responsibility for his own work, and in my opinion, he did exactly the right thing, Gestranius estimated.

According to him, the “four” helps that the rest of the jury can focus only on what is happening on the field.

– Let’s wait and see what games Lina will get. It has gone well and we are proud of him.

England managed to get the ball into the goal in the first half of the match against Spain. Lauren Hemp sent a free kick into the penalty area, Rachel Daly passed the ball to Ellen Whitewho guided the game tool to the goal.

Fullback in the same special situation Lucy Bronze was in a clear offside position when the pass started and was aiming for the ball with his head. According to Gestranius, the goal had to be disallowed because Bronze was influencing the game.

– Bronze was chasing the ball, which affected the defender, I think it was offside. I wasn’t entirely sure if the latter situation was offside. Of course, it seemed to me that it was offside, says Gestranius.

– Except it’s probably the most difficult soccer rule besides the hand foul rule. Maybe it should be reconsidered at some point.