Copa America 2019 Final: Brazil vs Peru – 5 Talking Points and Tactical Analysis

#3 Another Copa America game, another controversial red card

Gabriel Jesus was given his marching orders in the 70th minute

A little over 24 hours ago, there had been massive uproar with respect to the officiating on display in the game between Argentina and Chile. Lionel Messi and Gary Medel were sent off for seemingly innocuous shoves and that led to the former refusing to collect his third-place medal after the match.

Further fuel was added to the fire when the Barcelona forward alleged the referees of showing favouritism towards Brazil and indulging in acts of ‘corruption’. Though the CONMEBOL quickly reaffirmed that the above wasn’t the case, their referee for the final, Roberto Tobar didn’t particularly cover himself in any glory.

For a change, Brazil was at the receiving end of a poor refereeing decision, yet that doesn’t take anything away from the appalling standards of officiating on display. While Jesus’ first yellow card in the final was warranted, his second caution for a slight barge was bordering on being ludicrous.

Moreover, the South American referees seem to have problems working with the Video Assistant Referee. They appear to be under much more pressure and that has shown with the sheer number of indecisive decisions they’ve given. Though the VAR was installed to help the officials, at this tournament, it has certainly led to a steep fall in the standards of refereeing.

The CONMEBOL still has time to educate its referees on how best to interpret the VAR and how to use it as an additive mechanism rather than as the paramount tool. Yet, that needs to happen quickly or else they would find themselves on an extremely slippery slope.

The 2019 Copa America had plenty of moments of footballing genius. Unfortunately, though, it may now be remembered for the several farcical decisions officials came up with.