The reason why Mbappé’s bloody face was not shown by TV cameras
LaLiga denies that the injury was concealed and points out that Reis’s elbow was replayed up to eight times.
Real Madrid suffered another setback in La Liga, one that could prove decisive. If Barcelona beat Espanyol today at the Camp Nou, they will extend their lead over Los Blancos to nine points, with only seven matches remaining, including the Clásico in Barcelona.
The draw against Girona left a striking image: Mbappé with blood on his forehead after being elbowed by Vítor Reis. Iturralde González, refereeing expert for AS, believes the incident should have resulted in a penalty, but it went unpunished and VAR did not review it.
The television broadcast also failed to show the wound inflicted by Reis’s elbow on Mbappé’s forehead, or the significant amount of blood that flowed and was later cleaned by Real Madrid’s medical staff when he received treatment in the closing stages of the match. It was photographs taken inside the stadium that first revealed the severity of the blow suffered by the Frenchman.
LaLiga denies issuing any instructions to conceal the image and told AS there would have been no issue showing it had it been clearly visible. The only available footage, due to the camera angle, showed one of Real Madrid’s doctors with his arm covering Mbappé’s face, preventing the wound and blood from being seen. This occurred in the 89th minute and 13 seconds.
Furthermore, LaLiga notes that up to eight different replays of Reis’s elbow were shown, emphasising that there was no attempt to downplay the incident. They also confirmed to AS that LaLiga’s broadcast regulations do not include any provision prohibiting the display of blood or other consequences of aggressive plays, unlike in other situations, such as when fans run onto the pitch.
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