Argentinian referee and VAR at centre of Scotland vs Hungary penalty row AXED from Euro 2024 as Uefa slam ‘major errors’
UEFA have AXED the blundering Argentinian ref who ignored Scotland’s penalty claim against Hungary – AND his VAR.
Facundo Tello infuriated Steve Clarke by ignoring Willi Orban’s foul on Stuart Armstrong in Stuttgart – leading to a furious outburst from the Scotland boss.
But Sunsport understands SIX on the 19 refereeing teams have been sent home after being told they won’t officiate any further matches in the tournament – and that Tello and his assistants Gabriel Chade and Ezequiel Brailovsky are among them.
And Spanish sources are tonight reporting that Tello’s VAR Alejandro Hernandez has also been stood down for “not evaluating the play as indicated in the instructions” over the Armstrong incident.
In fact, UEFA felt Hernandez failed to intervene on TWO penalty-box incidents in the Scotland v Hungary match.
As well as the Armstrong flashpoint, UEFA bosses believed Grant Hanley’s first-half elbow on Endre Botka could also have been interpreted as a penalty to the Hungarians.
UEFA are likely to announce on Friday which refereeing teams are staying on.
And though there had been speculation that Tello would be given a knockout stages fourth official appointment in a bid to maintain the reciprocal courtesy agreement between UEFA and Conmebol, he looks to have paid the price for what’s viewed as a major error.
The performance of the Argentinian in Stuttgart saw Clarke asked if he had spoken to the official.
The Scotland boss responded: “He’s from Argentina — why would I ask him?
“He probably doesn’t speak the language. I don’t know.
“Why is he here? Why is there not a European referee?”
Those comments infuriated UEFA top brass who have yet to decide whether to charge Clarke for the remarks.
The agreement between UEFA and Conmebol has seen Italian Maurizio Mariani at the Copa America, where he refereed the U.S.A.’s win over Bolivia.
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