In recent seasons, the referees have set themselves the goal of improving, reducing violent actions and serious rough play. This was stated in public by Velasco Carballo before and now by Medina Cantalejo. And they are fulfilling it. Actions involving serious physical contact are down 75% from last season at this point.
Every year it is recurrent to see players injured for several months due to excessive tackles by their rivals. Soccer players are the main actors in this sport and arbitration seeks to protect them. For this reason, this type of action has been pursued. So far this season, the braids have shown 30 direct red cards, eight of them for violent behavior and thirteen for serious rough play actions. This represents 75% more than a year ago. It is not only that the expulsions grow for this reason, the success of the braids on the pitch in this type of set is increasing and they require less help from the VAR. Of the 26 direct red cards from last season at this point, 14 were at the request of his partner who was in the video arbitration room, however, this course they have only been recommended by the VAR on 7 of 30 occasions.
The mandate to braids was clear in summer for these types of entrances. “The referees must protect the physical integrity of the players and sanction this type of action with the corresponding red card when they are carried out using excessive force or putting the opponent at risk of injury / physical integrity. If it is not used with excessive force and there is no risk of injury, the action must be considered reckless and the corresponding yellow card must be shown.”
This policy has been endorsed by Medina Cantalejo, president of the Arbitration Committee, in Bilbao: “Our main objective is the protection of the players and objectively we have increased the expulsions for this type of tickets from last season to this one by 15 percent”. “It’s not a question of Vinicius or anyone. We have to protect everyone,” added the president of the braids.