Institute took a great triumph from La Bombonera against Boca 3-2, but was overshadowed by the enormous controversy that occurred in one of the last plays of the game: Miguel Merentiel he got to the ball before Jorge Carranza and the goalkeeper brought down the striker inside the area, the VAR detected a possible offence, but Jorge Balino considered that there was no fault. This Monday, the referee broke the silence and explained the reasons why he did not charge a penalty.
In a one-on-one dialogue with TyC Sports, Baliño was asked about the controversial play that sparked the controversy and revealed his version of what happened. “On the pitch what I see is game action. When the center comes, the Boca striker plays the ball, the goalkeeper throws himself with the intention of cutting the cross and after the striker plays the ball, normal contact occurs as a result of inertia“The judge began.
“Football is a contact sport and in this case it seems to me that it does not prevent Merentiel from playing the ball again. The figure would change if he had had the chance to define, but the ball goes out and Merentiel didn’t have a chance to play again, she’s even falling down“, explained the experienced referee.
Insisting on the subject, Baliño assures that “Merentiel plays the ball and the ball does not remain in the dispute zone to be able to define a goal, which is what would have changed the figure and the penalty would have been sanctioned“. On the other hand, he revealed details about the VAR call: “Diego (Abal) did his job very well. He found a contact and considered that there was a violation, but when I get to the monitor to review the play the decision is completely mine“.
“Intentions are not judged, but within imprudent contacts such as this one, it must be analyzed if there is tactical damage that prevents the player from doing something else. The fact of knocking it down does not necessarily imply that it is a foul“, finished.