Red card confusion & contentious calls - VAR's 'bad day at office'

Harry Maguire of England and Federico Valverde of Uruguay react towards referee Sven Jablonski

Image source, AFP via Getty ImagesImage caption,

A number of decisions by referee Sven Jablonski caused confusion on the pitch during the game

ByGary RoseBBC Sport journalist

Published7 minutes ago
6 Comments

England's friendly with Uruguay may not have been the most entertaining game, but it was certainly a bizarre and confusing one - for a number of reasons.

Ben White looked to have secured victory for Thomas Tuchel side's late on, only to then be adjudged to have given away a stoppage-time penalty which Federico Valverde converted.

But there was controversy around decision-making for both incidents, as well as Manuel Ugarte appearing to be shown two yellow cards but not be sent off, while Ronald Araujo went unpunished for a heavy challenge on Phil Foden.

"A bad day at the office" was England boss Tuchel's assessment of the performance of the officials in the 1-1 draw on Friday.

Should Ugarte have been sent off?

Manuel Ugarte prepares to challenge Cole Palmer

Image source, AFP via Getty ImagesImage caption,

There was confusion over how many yellow cards Manuel Ugarte was officially shown

Arguably the biggest talking point - and certainly the most confusing - was Ugarte staying on the pitch despite appearing to be booked twice.

The first incident came in the 70th minute when ITV's coverage displayed a graphic saying Ugarte had been booked for a foul on Cole Palmer, before the Uruguay midfielder was shown an apparent second yellow 11 minutes later for dissent after White's opener.

But rather than leave the pitch or question the decision, Ugarte walked away and play continued.

It was later claimed on TV coverage of the game that the yellow card had been "rescinded" by the fourth official.

However, Opta statistics show it was in fact Jose Gimenez who was booked for the first incident, and he was seen questioning referee Sven Jablonski at the time the yellow was shown.

Opta also confirmed the only yellow card Ugarte received was actually his 'second' booking in the 81st minute.

What were the controversies around the goals?

On a night of bizarre incidents, two of them centred around the goals.

White bundled home England's opener from a corner, but there was a check by the video assistant referee (VAR) with Adam Wharton appearing to block Gimenez in the build-up.

Former Arsenal striker Ian Wright said on ITV: "Come the World Cup, they'd probably look at that and give it as a foul."

USA Women head coach Emma Hayes added: "VAR was on and off tonight. I think nine times out of 10 blocking someone off like that is a foul and I was surprised it wasn't given."

Then came Uruguay's equaliser.

White and Federico Vinas came together inside the box - and the referee originally allowed play to continue. But he was asked to go to the monitor by VAR after which he awarded a penalty that Valverde scored.

"I think the referee was in a very good position when he gave the initial decision," former Tottenham goalkeeper Paul Robinson said on BBC Radio 5 live.

"That's nothing more than clumsy from White. There is connection but he got the ball first. One of those decisions where if it's not given on field you don't interfere."

Should Uruguay have been down to 10 men?

Ronald Araujo goes to tackle England's Phil Foden

Image source, AFP via Getty ImagesImage caption,

Phil Foden went off injured after he was hurt by a crunching tackle from Ronald Araujo

The first flash point of an otherwise largely dull game came when a studs-up challenge from Uruguay defender Araujo on Foden early in the second half went unpunished.

Foden was unable to continue after the incident, which left England defender Harry Maguire bewildered how it had not warranted a red card.

"You don't see tackles like that not get red cards," Maguire said.

"A couple of months from the World Cup and we've got referees allowing tackles like that. It's disappointing."

While Tuchel was happy with the overall performance of his players in this penultimate World Cup warm-up match, he was less pleased with the officials.

"Not a good performance at all throughout the match," he said.

"I cannot understand a tackle like this is not even checked. The penalty at the end was very very soft.

"A player got two yellows card in the match and not even sent off."