In the heated match between Chengdu and Qingdao Sea Cowboys, Chengdu's last-minute "tie-breaking goal" sparked a lot of controversy. Whether or not the ball was a handball and whether or not the goal should have been ruled invalid became the focus of discussion after the match. It is reported that the Chengdu team has filed a complaint with the Football Association, but the Association has not yet given a clear answer.
Looking back at the match, the Football Association has not yet made a clear statement on whether Palacios' handball before Iverson's goal constituted a handball or not. A fan sent a slow-motion video of the so-called "handball foul" to former Chinese Super League referee Clattenburg, who watched it and clearly stated that it was not a handball and deemed the offense valid (below).
As a result, Clattenburg argued that Aixon's goal should have been ruled out and the final score should have been 3-3 instead of 2-3 for Chengdu.However, the incident did not end there. A clearer video appeared online showing Palacios' hand not touching the ball (below), which further sparked the discussion.
Even more interestingly, Palacios was fighting for the ball with Qingdao Hainiu No.8 Ma Xingyu when Ma's hand seemed to have inadvertently touched the ball (below). It was certainly a dramatic reversal!
The plot was reversed and fans were hotly debating in the comment section (below). Some argued that even if the Qingdao Manatee players did not intend to commit a foul, they should not have deprived Chengdu of a goal. Some netizens pointed out that the referee did not give Chengdu a penalty kick, but blew away the opponent's goal instead. Some fans thought it was a classic comeback game ruined by three amateur referees. Other fans were upset for Chengdu, saying that it was actually a handball by the defending team, not the attacking team.
As a matter of fact, we thought that the domestic first-class referee, Ma Ning, would not make any mistakes in the VAR "black room", reviewing the VAR video by virtue of his highest business ability. However, the "Golden Whistle" of the Chinese Super League made a mistake and misjudged a good ball as an invalid goal.
As it turns out, the replay of the play is blurry and Palacios' hands are close to his body. Even if the ball had hit him, it would have just scraped his own hand in passing and would not have affected the direction of the ball. Therefore, there was no need to blow the goal.
However, I worry about Manning's "seriousness" - after the referee raised his flag to indicate a handball, he set the stage for a likely offensive handball and then looked for clues in the video. In the end, in line with the principle of "I'd rather be wrong by 1,000 than miss a good goal", he decided to nullify the penalty in the case of blurred video.
One of the most taboo situations for referees in a match is when subjective determinations are greater than objective judgments, and there is no uniform standard, but rather judgments are made according to one's own preferences. For example, some referees on the same foul behavior, different teams sentenced differently; some actions according to the standard to give a red card, and some are downgraded to only give a yellow card. This time, even the "Golden Whistle" of the Chinese Super League is no exception. Should the FA suspend the player? No wonder this level of professionalism can not play in the World Cup, but only on the sidelines playing cards.
