Ramos penalty not given and Cristiano goal disallowed
The referee in the Club World Cup final has been questioned over two big decisions in particular, ones that went against either team.
César Ramos, the referee of the Club World Cup final 2017, caused some controversy after not giving a penalty against Sergio Ramos in the 51st minute, and then ruling out Cristiano Ronaldo's second goal.
Gremio penalty shout against Ramos
The game was still goalless early in the second half when Gremio made a rare break towards Keylor Navas' goal. Ramiro got to the ball ahead of Los Blancos' captain and seemed to then be fouled.
"It's a penalty," says resident AS former referee Iturralde González after consideration. "The ball in motion and he is knocked over. Ramos misjudged it. Focused as the ball moves away from the incident, the referee may have lost sight of the players and possibly that's why he did not blow the whistle. But on television it was clear."
Cristiano Ronaldo puts Real Madrid on top of the world
Cristiano denied second goal
Later, with Madrid leading by a goal, Cristiano Ronaldo finished off a lovely move to likely put the game to bed as a contest. But before the celebrations took shape, the referee acknowledged his assistant's raised flag and signalled that Benzema was offside before heading the ball into Cristiano's path.
The Portuguese forward asked for VAR to be used but the referee chose not to and the game continued with a free-kick. Iturralde defended the Mexican official's decision not to consult the technology:
"Even if Cristiano asks for the VAR, it cannot be used as the play had already been stopped for the infringement. VAR can not be brought into play when the flag is raised and the whistle is blown. That noise signifies that play stops so anything after it cannot be altered."
Had the referee not blown up immediately, and waited until the ball was dead (i.e. in the goal after Cristiano's strike), he could then have called for VAR to check the potential offside.