Leganés demand Levante replay after VAR controversy

Leganés have lodged an official appeal to have their game against Levante replayed after the VAR system failed during a successful penalty appeal by the visiting side despite replays showing that there may have been no contact between the players and that if there was it would have taken place outside the area.

The incident occurred towards the end of the first half when Dimitris Siovas appeared to bring down Roger Martí in the area. Match referee Munuera Montero pointed to the spot but was unable to get in touch with the VAR room because the equipment linking him to the video referee failed. Subsequently a mobile phone was produced and the fourth official spoke to the VAR referee Álvarez Izquierdo and passed the information on to Munuera. The exact content of the conversation is unknown but the result was that Izquierdo ratified the decision and Roger subsequently converted to hand Levante the lead.

The game finished 2-1 to the visitors but Leganés are demanding that the fixture be replayed from the 44^th minute due to the technical issues surrounding the VAR system.

Leganés president: "We are not on a level playing field"

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Speaking after the game, Leganés president Victoria Pavón confirmed an appeal had been lodged with the Spanish Football Federation.

“In the recently completed game between Leganés and Levante there were serious issues, such as awarding a penalty that was outside of the area. The same thing happened to us at Valencia a few weeks ago. On top of that, the VAR system did not work correctly. We know that it was off and on [during the game]. We do not feel that we compete on a level playing field with the rest of the Liga clubs and thusly we are going to ask that the game be replayed from the moment of the penalty,” Pavón told reporters.

The eventual result left Leganés at the foot of the Liga table with two points from eight games.