scandal-in-argentina:-team-put-12-players-on-the-field-for-a-few-seconds-during-the-matchScandal in Argentina: Team put 12 players on the field for a few seconds during the match
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By Joiner Martinez

24 Aug 2024, 19:59 PM EDT

An unusual event occurred in the match valid for Matchday 12 of the Argentine Professional Football League in which Deportivo Riestra beat Sarmiento de Junín 2-1 at the Guillermo Laza stadium, the team led by Cristian Fabbiani played with 12 players for a few moments.

It happened in the epilogue, after one of the Riestra players did not leave the field to be replaced by a teammate who did enter.

Neither referee Facundo Tello nor his assistants Lucas Germanotta and Maximiliano Castelli noticed this irregularity.

Furthermore, the fourth referee Fernando Marcos did not notice it either, and Jorge Baliño and Diego Verlotta did not call the VAR. This is why the visiting team’s players organized an attack while their rival was defending with 11 field players plus the goalkeeper.

The curious thing was that both Fabbiani and his assistants tried to inform the referee of the unusual situation in order to relocate his players on the field.

It was at 39 minutes of the second half: Guillermo Pereira and Delfor Minervino had to replace Jonathan Goitía and Brian Sánchez, who did not see the sign with his number and completely ignored the change.

Joaquín Gho had given the visitors the lead in the 11th minute, but Brian Sánchez (who came on in the 30th minute of the first half in place of Pedro Ramírez) scored the equaliser at the end of the first half. With 8 minutes left, Jonathan Herrera sealed the match in favour of the home team.

The IFAB regulations state in Article 3 on substitutions that “a substitute may only enter the field of play while play is stopped; from the centre line; after the player he is to replace has left the field of play; and after receiving the referee’s signal.” At the same time, it underlines: “Substitutions become effective when the substitute enters the field of play.”

Although it did not happen, there is also a section (3.9) that talks about the possibility of a “goal scored with an unauthorized person on the field of play.” It warns that this regulation will come into effect “if after a goal is scored and before play resumes, the referee finds that an unauthorized person was on the field of play at the time the goal was scored and that person interfered with play.”

“The referee must disallow the goal if the unauthorized person was: a player, substitute, substituted player, sent-off player or member of the coaching staff of the team that scored the goal; play will be restarted with a direct free kick from the position of the unauthorized person,” it warns.

On the other hand: “The referee must award the goal if the unauthorized person was: a player, substitute, substituted player, sent off player or member of the technical staff of the team that conceded the goal; an external agent who did not interfere in the game.” Although “in all cases,” the referee “will order the unauthorized person to leave the field of play.”

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