Abdoulaye Ba makes red card LaLiga VAR history
Rayo Vallecano's Senegalese midfielder became the first player to be sent off for an off-the-ball incident referred to the eye in the sky in Spain's top flight.
After five match weeks, the video assistant referee (VAR) was involved in the first sending-off in Spanish top flight history during the match between Rayo and Alavés in the Vallecas Stadium.
The system was introduced for the 2018-19 season after its deployment at the World Cup in Russia and a trial run in the Spanish Super Cup in Tangiers but until Saturday had not been called upon to decide whether a player should be given his marching orders for an incident not spotted by the referee or his assistants during open play.
Rayo midfielder Abdoulaye Ba will have the honour of being a future quiz question after the Senegal international was adjudged to have fouled Alavés forward Jonathan Calleri in an off-the-ball incident in the 35th minute, which went largely unnoticed due to Ibai Gómez hitting the net with a spectacular strike at the same moment.
Ba into the history books as first victim of VAR
As Alavés were celebrating the goal, match official Adrián Cordero Vega received a word in his ear from the spotters in the VAR room and went over to the touchline to examine replays of the incident on the pitch-side monitor. There, he decided that Ba had elbowed Calleri in the run-up to Gómez’s goal, which would have resulted in a penalty had the strike not already been given. However, the foul was deemed worthy of a straight red card, which will also lead to a ban for the midfielder.
The VAR system was involved in the first "phantom goal incident" in Spain as early as the second round of Liga fixtures when Estaban Granero's strike off the bar against Valencia was adjudged to have crossed the line after a VAR review.
The system also made headlines in Serie A on September 16 when Juventus winger Douglas Costa was sent off in stoppage time after spitting on Sassuolo's Federico Di Francesco.
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