Iturralde, on Aurier’s hand: “It’s a penalty”

The controversy with the hands inside the area took over the La Cerámica Stadium in the 36th minute of the match between Villarreal and Athletic. Defender Aurier cleared a shot from Muniain with his arm in an action, in principle, very clear of being sanctioned with a penalty. However, Del Cerro Grande, after being warned by the VAR and reviewing the image on the monitor, decided to leave the Ivorian defender’s interception unpunished. The referee of As and Ser, Iturralde González, considers that the referee made a mistake and should have awarded a penalty, because “The elbow is separated from the body, but also with the body and with the elbow he shoots for the ball, so it’s a penalty. Another thing is that, with the elbow a little separated, the ball will hit him. It’s one thing to stand still and quite another to go for the ball with your elbow out, like in this play. That is the difference”.

Iturralde González points without hesitation to the person responsible for the refereeing errors: “The VAR calls him because he has seen a hand. The two referees, the field referee and the VAR referee, have gone to the same meetings: one sees a hand and the other does not. The first person in charge is Undiano Mallenco, the technical director”.