CONMEBOL lifts Plata’s red card, free to face Estudiantes | OneFootball

Flamengo remains on fire after the controversies in their narrow 2-1 victory over Estudiantes in the first leg of the Copa Libertadores quarterfinals: they announced that the club “will take action” and listed one by one the controversial decisions made by Colombian referee Andrés Rojas, including the sending off of Gonzalo Plata. The management appealed the red card, Conmebol agreed to review it, the second yellow and the red card were withdrawn, and finally, the Ecuadorian will be available for the return leg.

In an explosive official statement, the Rio de Janeiro institution made clear their anger with the refereeing team. “What we saw on the field, led by Colombian referee Andrés Rojas, was a parade of mistakes and decisions that went beyond the limits of human error, revealing biased conduct, with different treatment for the two teams, directly compromising the sporting result and the credibility of the competition,” they stated.

In this regard, they listed the controversies they protested. The main one was the sending off of Gonzalo Plata, who received a second yellow card for an alleged foul on Facundo Rodríguez when in reality he anticipated the play and was struck by the Pincha defender, which they believe should have actually been a penalty (a play that was not reviewed by VAR).

They even protested an action a second earlier: a possible handball by Rodríguez—inside the box—while tussling with Luiz Araújo, just before his foul on Plata. The VAR never alerted the referee to review the play.

The other controversy they protested was in the play leading to Guido Carrillo’s last-minute goal: they believe there was a handball by Román Agustín Gómez when he won the ball in the box to set up the striker, who scored the consolation goal and kept Pincha alive.

“The images from the match are clear and indisputable, revealing the magnitude of the errors committed. The disallowed fouls and the disproportionate yellow cards against Flamengo reveal the imbalance in refereeing decisions, which favor the visiting team,” the Carioca club expressed in the statement.

“The awarding of an irregular goal to Estudiantes, after a touch on the outstretched arm of the striker, who extended his area beyond his natural range of movement, further aggravates the situation. Situations like these cannot be considered simple mistakes, but rather a direct attack on the integrity of the tournament,” they fired.

They also pointed out that the errors were highlighted by “the national and international press” and targeted the person in charge of VAR. “The omission of the video referee, Nicolás Gallo (COL), and the failure to use the VAR resource at times when the protocol required its intervention was also striking.”

“All these elements clearly show a disastrous performance by the refereeing team, also made up of assistants Alexander Guzmán Bonilla (COL) and John Alexander León Sánchez (COL), along with fourth official Jhon Alexander Ospina Londoño (COL), something that directly influenced the result of this match and also compromised Flamengo’s lineup for the decisive game in Argentina,” they declared.

The club reported that they will appeal to Conmebol the “absurd sending off of player Gonzalo Plata” and trust that the Confederation “will urgently review the decision and overturn the sanction applied to the athlete” so that he will be available for the return leg in La Plata next Thursday. Finally, shortly afterwards it was confirmed that Plata’s second yellow card was withdrawn and he will be available for the return at UNO.

“The club reaffirms its confidence in the integrity of Conmebol president Alejandro Domínguez, recognized for his commitment to the development and good practices of football on the continent. Flamengo hopes that immediate measures will be taken to repair, at least partially, the enormous damage caused by the refereeing in this match and to preserve the legitimacy of the Libertadores,” they concluded.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.