A press report has revealed the audio recording of the Video Assistant Referee conversations regarding the sending-off of Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior, after he was accused of pulling Saliba's hair in the 71st minute of the match against Villarreal in the eighth round of La Liga.
Referee Isidro Diaz de Mera made the call after reviewing the incident on the pitchside monitor, prompted by an alert from Alejandro Muniz Ruiz in the Video Assistant Referee room.
According to the Spanish newspaper "Mundo Deportivo", Muniz Ruiz flagged the incident to Diaz de Mera, saying: "Isidro, I advise you to review the incident to assess whether there was violent conduct during the goal-scoring move".
Diaz de Mera replied: "Alex, let Puli (the Assistant Video Assistant Referee) speak, because your voice keeps cutting out". Pulido Santana, serving as the Assistant Video Assistant Referee, then stepped in: "Let us know when you reach the screen, Isi".
The referee reached the monitor and said: "I'm at the screen now". The Video Assistant Referee room explained: "Right, from what we can see, Vinicius is pulling the hair of a Villarreal player. This incident falls within the same phase of the goal-scoring move".
Diaz de Mera asked for more: "Excellent, show me a wide shot, I want to see where the attacking phase ends (how the incident itself develops)".
In the background, one of those in the Video Assistant Referee room could be heard saying: "This is a red-card incident".
Shown the full footage, the referee settled on his decision: "Alex, Puli, as far as I'm concerned I'll restart play by awarding a foul and showing the red card to player number 7 of the home side, agreed?".
Back came one word from the Video Assistant Referee team: "Agreed". With that, Diaz de Mera brandished the red card at Vinicius Junior.