Duarte Gomes: Hjulmand’s foul in Sporting v Braga not a penalty | OneFootball

Duarte Gomes once again spoke about the penalty involving Morten Hjulmand in Sporting’s last match against Braga. The technical director of refereeing at the Portuguese Football Federation explained on Canal 11 that, in his opinion, the incident that allowed the visiting team to equalize is indeed a foul, and that VAR did well to alert the referee.

"This incident on the field went completely unnoticed. I don’t think there was a single person who looked at this play and suspected there had been an infraction, but a series of replays show a truth that is unequivocal," Duarte Gomes began by explaining.

The former referee continued: "The moment when the player uses both hands to prevent his opponent from jumping for the ball. We’re not talking about a marking situation where both players have their feet on the ground, as was the case before, with both on the ground... the player who is jumping to try to head the ball is grabbed with both hands in an action that is extremely visible in terms of impact."

"If he had his feet on the ground, it probably wouldn’t have been a penalty because a player with his feet on the ground can hold his own and not be disturbed. It’s a very different kind of contact from someone who is jumping and off balance," he explained, later revealing that if the incident had been slightly different, there would have been no penalty awarded.

Duarte Gomes concluded his argument: "If you jump and someone pushes you, no matter how light the contact is, you fall to the ground or lose your balance. The intention of the player committing the foul is only one: to stop that jump. It’s not about tight marking or risking excessive marking, it’s really about stopping the player from reaching the ball. VAR did very well."

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