In Monday’s last match, Portugal beat Uruguay 2–0 and secured their place in the top 16 at the World Cup.
Portuguese Bruno Fernandes completed his second goal of the match in overtime. Portugal were awarded a penalty kick when the ball hit Uruguay By Jose Maria Gimenez on.
It is clear that the ball hit Gimenez’s hand and that without the contact Fernandes would likely have broken into the goal post.
Based on football rules, the referee could have been left without the whistle. The situation sparked a lively discussion on, for example, social media.
– I was surprised that the video referee asked the referee to the VAR screen and I was surprised again when it was awarded a penalty kick, says Urheilu’s expert, top-level assistant referee Jan-Peter Aravirta.
Aravirta has refereed, among others, in the main leagues of Finland, Greece and Saudi Arabia, as well as in the European Championship and World Cup qualifiers.
You can see the situation in the video that is the main picture of the story and below.
A player commits an offense if he:
Previously, in the football rulebook, there was an addition for a hand foul that a player is not guilty of a foul if:
– The ball hits the hand/arm when the player falls and the hand/arm is between the body and the ground supporting the body, but not extended laterally or vertically away from the body.
That section has been removed from the 2022 version of the rulebook. The fact that Portugal would not have been awarded a penalty kick would in any case be justified by the fact that the position of Gimenez’s hand is the result of the movement of the player’s body in that situation.
That’s why Aravirta was surprised by the harsh verdict.
– (Gimenez’s) hand is going behind the body for support. Then we think that it is in a normal playing position, and the defender does not make himself bigger, says Aravirta about the interpretations of the rules.
However, Aravirta adds that there is room for interpretation in the situation. The referee’s decision could be justified by the fact that Gimenez deliberately tried to block the ball’s flow with his hand.
According to Aravirra, he would have understood the penalty if the referee had whistled it immediately based on the above. However, Aravirta does not feel that the referee made such a mistake that the situation was worth a VAR review.
Reporter for ESPN Dale Johnson goes through the World Cup’s VAR judgments and controversial situations on his Twitter account.
– That is not a penalty kick. It can only be a penalty if it’s intentional, Johnson your tweet (you will go to another service) About the situation of the game between Portugal and Uruguay.
As an attachment, Johnson has added a picture of the instructions of the IFAB (International Football Association Board), the international body that decides on the rules of football.
In IFAB’s instructions (you will switch to another service) for the 2021–22 season, more has been explained about the situations in which the player is not guilty of a hand foul. There have been no changes to the 2022–23 rules in this regard.
“The player does not make himself unnaturally bigger when the position of the hand/arm is a consequence or can be justified by the movement of the player’s body in that situation.
This includes situations such as:
The previous Portuguese supporter also spoke
The penalty kick situations of the tournament were reviewed in Urheilu’s studio on Monday. At that time, the match between Portugal and Uruguay had not yet been played.
Portugal were also awarded a penalty in their tournament opener against Ghana. Mohammed Salisu poured Cristiano Ronaldowho finished off Portugal’s opening goal in a 3–2 win.
– The first question, of course, is whether there was a penalty kick at all and the second, whether VAR should have been used, Aravirta stated.
Sports experts Markus Halsti and Toni Koskela agreed that the situation was by no means worthy of a penalty kick.
Aravirta was of the opinion that there was very little contact in the situation, which was caused by Ronaldo himself. In Aravirta’s opinion, the situation should have at least been checked with VAR, because the contact was so minimal.
You can watch Ronaldo’s penalty kick in the Ghana match and Monday’s discussion about refereeing in the videos below.
Portugal took a 1-0 lead in the Uruguay match in the 54th minute when Manchester United midfielder Fernandes’ cross almost found the head of his ex-teammate Ronaldo. However, Ronaldo did not hit the ball, instead it hit the net directly from the cross.
– We are satisfied with the victory regardless of who scored the goal. The most important thing is that we achieved our goal. I celebrated the opening goal as if it was Cristiano’s goal. It seemed to me that he had touched the ball. My goal was to pass the ball to him, Fernades said after the match.
Portugal secured their place as the third team after France and Brazil. In the last round of the preliminary group, on Friday, December 2, it faces South Korea. Uruguay, on the other hand, will play against Ghana.
Portugal has 6 points, Ghana 3 and South Korea and Uruguay 1.
Uruguay has qualified for the next three World Cup tournaments. In 2010 it was no less than fourth in South Africa and in the quarterfinals of the 2018 Russian Games. A place in the next round is still possible, but they have to beat Ghana and at the same time hope that South Korea doesn’t surprise Portugal, who have already secured a place in the next round.