UEFA referee Roberto Rosetti has clarified why Italian midfielder Jorginho was not sent off for a controversial challenge against England’s Jack Grealish during the European Championship 2020 final on Sunday.
Jorginho received a yellow card for the tackle from referee Björn Kuipers in the field and the VAR official on duty saw no reason to intervene, despite painful contact from the Italian’s boot high up on Grealish’s legs.
The referee was happy that Jorginho played the ball first / Marc Atkins / Getty Images
Rosetti has explained that Jorginho’s contact with the ball first to win the tackle before following again and joining Grealish was the deciding factor. Had there been no contact with the ball first and Jorginho had only made contact with his opponent, it would have been red.
“[Kuipers] saw Jorginho try to play the ball – you can see him put his right foot on the ball and this is 100% clear and then the right foot slides on the ball and there is a second contact on the leg of the white seven player, “Rosetti is quoted by The Guardian.
The referee explained to VAR exactly what he saw on the court.
“What is VAR’s obligation? To perfectly control what the judge saw. So, for example, if the right foot was not on the ball but directly on the leg then [decision would be overturned]. ”
Rosetti also defended referee Danny Makkelie’s decision to award England what turned out to be a decisive penalty in the extension of the semi-final against Denmark, which had been controversial and provided an online presentation requiring UEFA to replay the game.
The Danish defender Joakim Maehle was punished for contacting Raheem Sterling and Rosetti insists that the decision to award a sentence was the right one and “not a scandal”.
UEFA are happy that England should have received a penalty against Denmark / Laurence Griffiths / Getty Images
“[Makkelie] saw red defender number five – he did not play the ball, Rosetti said.
“The defender’s right leg, Danny saw the contact on the right leg [England] player. This is what the referee saw in the court and VAR confirmed the decision: the red five-pointer did not touch the ball. We can of course discuss the intensity of the contact, but we always want the judge to be at the center of the decision-making process. ”
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