Former Argentinian referee Javier Castrilli was fired from his position as president of the Referees Committee in Chile and the ANFP president, Paul Milad, explained that the dismissal was due to “not abiding by a decision of the Board of Directors”, amid the appearance of a scandalous audio after a play-off match for a place in the first division.
Referee Francisco Gilabert claimed to have received “pressure” from the VAR during the match between Huachipato and Copiapo on January 27. Huachipato won 1-0 with a controversial penalty kick in the second leg and managed to stay in the highest category, after also winning the first leg, 3-2. In the audio published by the chain DNA Radio, Gilabert recreated the dialogue he had with the VAR after a foul called in the Copiapo penalty area. The VAR called him because they had warned that there was no such infraction and, therefore, the error had to be corrected. But when the referee approached the monitor and recognized his mistake, the disaster began. “I wanted to see the play again because I saw that it touched his ankle. VAR told me that I’m going to see, that it’s not a penalty, so I’m going to restart with a corner kick, but they told me: “Francisco! please, one moment, analyze the shirt pulling”. I see the jersey and I see that he is pulling the jersey, but I said: “It seems to me part of playing action, I’m going to go with a corner kick.” But the VAR insisted: “Francisco, please analyze the shirt pulling” and then I understood that something had happened. There was… I don’t know… something weird. And I left with the feeling that I was not going to change something that was incorrect”, narrated the referee. Despite what he considered, Gilabert confirmed the penalty kick, converted by Cris Martinez, which decided the match and sentenced the play-off. “After the game ended, the VAR told me: “Luckily, you awarded the penalty, you understood us”, the referee explained, before revealing the cause that still generates commotion in Chilean football: «They called us from Santiago, that you had to award a penalty»”. In the audios, Gilabert makes it clear what happened and admits that he does not know exactly who gave the order to award that penalty kick, but he maintains a particular suspicion: “I thought that [Osvaldo] Talamilla or Castrilli had some play with the eggs… from Huachipato. I think it’s the closest.” Gilabert extended his assessment of the situation: “They chose me for a reason, they knew I’m one of the newest FIFA referees. The VAR already knew what was going to happen and they already had it half talked about. I’ve thought about so many things… I didn’t have autonomy; I was forced to award something and look what happened”. In addition, the referee confirmed that he received a call from Castrilli: “He told me that I was a brave, courageous referee and he felt represented by me on the field”.
Javier Castrilli had the support of the ANFP president until a few days ago, when 11 referees were fired. According to Milad, Castrilli did not accept to be “suspended from office during the investigation” and that is why he was expelled from the role he assumed last September, when his message was: “We cannot allow football to continue transmitting impunity. We want football to have maximum transparency and reduce the possibility of any error”. However, the image of Castrilli was in decline since few days ago when he dismissed 11 referees including internationals Julio Bascunan and Piero Maza, and the union declared a strike that put in doubt the next matchday of the championship. Until then, Milad supported dismissals and did not rule out hiring foreign referees. “I feel frustration. They brought me for a task that I had been carrying out, but this situation forced them to make this decision, “said the Argentine in an interview with the newspaper Third. He claims that he did not accept the suspension since he was the one who initiated and promoted the investigation of what happened in that game.
Source: Euro24
