Argentina boss blasts timing of Messi ban as defeat hits qualification bid
Argentinaheadcoachedgardo Bauza criticised Fifa for handing Lionel Messi a four-game suspension hours before his side slumped to a 2-0 defeat in Bolivia that jeopardised their hopes of qualifying for next year’s World Cup.
Juancarlosarceandmarcelo Martins were on target as Bolivia claimed a comfortable victory at Estadio Hernando Siles.
However, much of the focus was on Barcelona playmaker Messi, who was banned for four international matches for abusing an assistant referee during last Thursday’s win over Chile.
Argentina plan to appeal the ruling, but with the ban handed down hours before kickoff Bauza, pictured, was left bemused by the timing of Fifa’s announcement.
“Whentherumourbegan to settle, the concern began to take on more volume,” he said after the match.
“It seemed strange that in one day everything could be done, that we did not have time to make an appeal.
“We did not have time to work with someone else. Now the corresponding procedure for the appeal is being processed.” With Colombia and Chile both winning, Argentina slipped to fifth in the South American qualification race – with only the top four teams earning an automatic ticket to Russia next summer.
Despite having had
his tactics disrupted in the buildup, Bauza admitted his side had underperformed in the first half.
“We try to get prominence to Bolivia, the second half the team improved slightly,” he added. “Bolivia won well. We must think in what’s coming. We are alive and wanting to qualify for the World Cup. We know that this is going to be a struggle and we will keep fighting.” France striker Antoine Griezmann celebrated when his first-half header hit the Spanish net on Tuesday night. But an assistant in a truck outside the ground checked replays and found that a player was offside in the build-up.
The goal was then ruled out without referee Felix Swayer seeing a replay but that won’t necessarily be the case when video replays are rolled out across the sport.
“Subjective decisions should be made by the onfield referee because they have got the feel for the game,” said Mike Riley, general manager of English referees. “As part of the process we have got to work out how we can do that as effectively as possible... without interrupting the flow of the game.”
The International Football Association Board, the game’s lawmaking body, is in its second year of trials of video assistant referees (VAR). “Fundamentally we are told very much by players and coaches they want the referee to be making the most important decisions,” IFAB technical director David Elleray said. “They don’t know who is in a van out in the car park or 300 miles away in a match centre”
IFAB only envisage video replays being used to correct game-changing decisions in four situations: penalties, red cards, cases of mistaken identity and goals being scored.
“Nicola Rizzoli was appointed to the last World Cup final because he is the best referee,” Elleray said. “But if actually the two most important decisions in the match are made by somebody watching a TV screen... the most important person is the man you put behind the TV screen not the man on the field.”
The challenge is how referees are able to view replays without lengthening the delay.
For now the technology isn’t satisfactory for officials to use wearable devices and receive footage in real time. That means going to the side of the field to watch incidents with the eyes of thousands of fans in the stands on them.