No menu items!

COSTA RICA'S LEADING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER

HomeLa SeleReferee who called last-minute penalty against Costa Rica admits he saw no...

Referee who called last-minute penalty against Costa Rica admits he saw no foul

Walter López, the official who called a controversial 121st minute penalty on Costa Rica’s Roy Miller in La Sele‘s 1-0 Gold Cup quarterfinals loss to Mexico, admitted Thursday that there was no foul and said his linesman made a mistake in calling it. The yellow card rewarded Mexico with the game-clinching penalty kick after Uribe Peralta fell down in the box.

The Guatemalan referee told his home country’s newspaper Prensa Libre that he saw no penalty in real time and made the call because assistant ref Eric Boria, from the United States, yelled that it was a penalty.

“If he hadn’t told me to call it, I wouldn’t have penalized anyone,” López told the paper. “We’re a working team and I trust all my associates’ opinions. He is a good assistant, but was wrong like any other human can be.”

Last night, the secretary general of Costa Rica’s Football Federation (FEDEFUTBOL) sent a letter to the Confederation of North Central American and Caribbean Football’s (CONCACAF) executive committee requesting that López never referee another game in which La Sele is playing.

CONCACAF officials have received heat for bad calls and perceived bias following two more penalty calls in Mexico’s favor in Wednesday’s semifinals against a 10-man Panama team. López denied suspicions that his superiors put pressure on refs to make certain calls.

“We received training and they taught us to give our best effort but they never tell us who needs to win,” López told Prensa Libre. “They treat every national team very seriously. We referees are not pressured by authorities to make a call.”

Here is a clip of López’s call against Costa Rica that led to its knock out from the Gold Cup.

https://twitter.com/allaboutrefs/status/623057807542222848

Popular Articles

Costa Rica’s Journalists’ Day: Press Freedom in Crisis

Every May 30, Costa Rica marks National Journalists’ Day, a time to honor the vital role journalists play in upholding democracy. Established in 2010...

El Salvador Journalists Warn of Rising Repression Under Bukele Government

The main journalists' association in El Salvador denounced on Sunday the increase in "persecution" against media outlets and human rights defenders by the government...

Capybara Dies After Rescue from Wildlife Trafficking in Costa Rica

One of the five capybaras rescued during an operation against illegal trafficking on Thursday died over the weekend due to mistreatment and malnutrition. The young...
spot_img
Costa Rica Tours
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Travel Insurance
Costa Rica Rocking Chait
Costa Rica Travel

Latest Articles