FIFA has officially announced the dismissal of the officials and referees from the recent Real Madrid vs Arsenal match. This decision comes after the referee took five minutes to come to a decision following a dangerous tackle
In a dramatic turn of events during the first half of the Champions League quarter-final second leg between Arsenal and Real Madrid, VAR intervened to overturn a penalty awarded to Real Madrid. The incident occurred in the 23rd minute when referee Francois Letexier initially ruled that Declan Rice had fouled Kylian Mbappe in the box, awarding a penalty and booking Rice.
However, after a lengthy five-minute VAR review, Letexier reversed his decision, rescinding the penalty and also removing the yellow card given to Rice. This decision was significant not only because it denied Real Madrid a potential scoring opportunity but also because it spared Rice a suspension that would have ruled him out of the first leg of the semi-final if Arsenal were to advance.
The VAR review also checked for potential offside, but the primary reason for overturning the penalty was the determination that Rice had not committed a foul. UEFA later released a statement confirming this, stating that the penalty was taken away due to a non-foul by Declan Rice.
The prolonged VAR review drew criticism from commentators Ally McCoist and Rio Ferdinand on TNT Sports, who expressed frustration with the VAR process. McCoist was particularly vocal about his relief that the penalty was overturned, describing the initial call as soft and expressing satisfaction that Rice avoided a yellow card.
