Khaberni - A referee in a match of the Spanish third division was forced to review a scene through the video assistant technology in a very strange way.
This happened in the match between Merida and its guest Ponferradina that took place Friday for the 9th round of the competition, where the field referee resorted to communicating with the "VAR" room via a mobile phone.
The breakdown of VAR pushes the referee to use a mobile phone
The Spanish network "Cadena Ser" mentioned that the referee was forced to communicate with the VAR room in this way due to a malfunction in the official communication system.
Pedro Tribany managed to score a dubious goal for Merida, following which the video room informed the referee that he must review the scene for a possible offside on a player who might have impeded the advance of one of the opposing team's defenders, which could constitute an illegal intervention in scoring the goal.
A video spread on social media shows that the referee was unable to communicate with the room upon reaching the screen, forcing him to use the mobile phone.
After a review that took about 10 minutes, the referee decided to annul the goal, which sparked an uproar from the local club.
According to "Cadena Ser," the image spread like wildfire on social media accompanied by scathing criticisms from football fans.
The incident did not stop there, as the referee noticed the continued technical problems and was forced to wear a headset equipped with a microphone in a strange and completely unfamiliar scene in football stadiums, as described by the network.
This scene reminiscent of a similar incident that occurred in the Portuguese football league on the third of September 2023.
At that time, the referee Miguel Nogueira was also forced to communicate with the video room via phone during a Porto vs. Arouca match, after a VAR device battery failure, as stated by the Portuguese newspaper "A Bola".
It should be noted that the match between Merida and Ponferradina ended in a goalless draw, bringing the former's total to 10 points in the 13th position, while the latter reached 11 points, placing them in the eighth position.
