UEFA have acknowledged a refereeing mistake in Chelsea's Champions League clash with Ajax in November that saw two of the Dutch side's stars sent off in the same phase of play, according to reports in Holland. The two teams played out a 4-4 thriller at Stamford Bridge, but Ajax blew a three-goal lead after going 4-1 up against the Blues, and felt aggrieved after Gianluca Rocchi showed a red card to both Daley Blind and Joel Veltman in quick succession. With 20 minutes to go and Ajax down to nine men, Chelsea conjured up a comeback with the scores at 4-2, and many associated with the Dutch outfit believe the decision to dismiss both players cost them a win.
A report in De Telegraaf claims a UEFA referee winter meeting took place in Mallorca recently, with officials from the organisation conceding that the 'blunders' by Rocchi 'killed' Ajax. The incident happened when Blind fouled Tammy Abraham, with play being allowed to continue before a shot hit Veltman's arm in the area moments later. Rocchi gave the spot kick, showing Blind a belated second yellow for the foul and then dismissed Veltman for the handball. The meeting reportedly concluded that Rocchi should have blown up after Blind's tackle - which would have prevented the future penalty. Officials are also said to believe that VAR ought to have overturned the decision to send off Veltman. Jorginho converted the penalty before Reece James netted the equaliser three minutes later. Ajax nearly walked away from the Bridge with nothing when Cesar Azpilicueta thought he had netted the winner, only for VAR to adjudge that Abraham had handled in the build-up.
Ajax had been leading Group H at the time but went on to miss out on qualification to the knockout stages, and have reportedly missed out on £9m as a result - including a £1m bonus from winning at Chelsea. Ajax CEO Edwin van der Sar said: “The decisions in that situation had so much influence on the game, and ultimately on the final standings in the group. 'It is painful for us to confirm what we immediately suspected, namely that crucial mistakes have been made. In their reply, they referred, among other things, to Article 9 of the Rules. It states that UEFA authorities will no longer review refereeing decisions”.
Source: Daily Mail