Expert Meier blames VAR and referee: “It would have been more likely a foul by the Servette player.”

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After a duel with Johan Nkama (24) from Lugano, Servette midfielder Gaël Ondoua (28) remains in the center circle. What happened? Nkama accidentally stepped on his opponent’s stomach. Referee Luca Cibelli (35) allows the game to continue, but is called to the VAR screen moments later and then draws a red card for the Lugano player. Nkama can’t believe he has just seen red and complains to Cibelli in vain.

Referee expert Urs Meier (64) also has little understanding for this decision. The former head of Swiss referees (2007 to 2011) doesn’t even know where to start. Both the VAR and the referee made glaring errors here.

“We see the whole problem of VAR here in collaboration with the referee. Actually, everything is as it should be in the first place. The referee on the field makes the right decision and allows the game to continue.” Meier wonders why VAR intervenes. “That was not a clearly wrong decision. I have no idea why VAR intervened here.”

The former professional referee is also surprised that Cibelli reverses his initially correct decision based on the video images. “It’s not a foul from the Lugano player, he wants to step over the Servette player, he’s already over it with one foot and he wanted to try with the other. If you look closely, you will see that Ondoua made the mistake and not Nkama. I don’t understand how you can get a red card here. I expect that a referee will at least see from the video footage that there is no foul play.

Finally, Meier has a tip for the competition. “Referees must be further trained in understanding football and VAR must exercise restraint in such sensitive cases.” (par)

Source : Blick