"What a disgrace": after Marcelo and Gavi, Vinicius's sending-off exposes the double standards of Spain's referees

Mundo Deportivo has revealed details of the referee's report from the Real Madrid v Villarreal match, concerning the Vinicius incident, writing that the Real Madrid player pulled Saliba's hair with no contest between them for the ball. The detail has fuelled speculation over the length of ban coming the way of the Real Madrid star.

Video officials spotted it first. They flagged the incident to referee De Mira after he had already awarded the goal in Vinicius's favour, alerting him to an offence falling under the heading of "violent conduct".

Read also: Investigation into the killing of a motorcyclist: what is the connection to Enrique's daughter?

The website okdiario said: "Vinicius's sending-off brought back to mind a similar incident involving Marcelo, but one that passed without punishment at the time. In the match between Real Madrid and Alaves in November 2020, Laguardia pulled Marcelo's hair inside the Alaves penalty area, in an incident that warranted a penalty and a clear sending-off, but the video technology did not intervene."

It explained: "Marcelo fell to the ground during a Real Madrid attack, while the referee allowed play to continue, amid protests from the Brazilian full-back, who could not believe what had happened. It was an incident that warranted a straight red card, which is the decision that was applied in similar incidents later on, as happened with Vinicius."

The same website commented: "Here the difference in standards becomes apparent. There is no doubt that the decision in Vinicius's case was correct, but the Marcelo incident was ignored at the time. Cordero Vega was the on-field referee, while Gonzalez Gonzalez was in charge of the video technology."

That game, okdiario noted, fell during the period of crowd restrictions brought in because of the coronavirus pandemic. Real Madrid lost it 1-2.

AS went further and published a video of the Marcelo incident, saying: "Real Madrid are recalling an old precedent: Marcelo's hair was pulled and no penalty was awarded despite the presence of VAR technology."

It continued: "After Vinicius's goal was ruled out, many Real Madrid fans recalled this incident involving the Brazilian player against Alaves in 2020."

Read also: Amorim takes Milan back to their 99 version

Clos Gomez, the man in charge of the VAR project in Spain, used a subsequent press conference reviewing the work of video technology to explain that the footage showing the Marcelo incident was not available to the referees at the time of the match.

He said, according to what the El Espanol website reported: "All the cameras used in the television production are available to the VAR system, but there are exceptions, as there are sometimes cameras that do not have a feed to transmit the image to the television production. That happened in the match, and during the interval a shot appeared that we did not have, and so it was not possible to analyse it."

Hair-pulling, Gomez added, is punished according to its force: "If it is slight, a foul is given and a yellow card is shown, but if it is more forceful then it warrants a red card, whether the ball is in play or not."

Velasco Carballo, the head of the technical referees' committee, said the camera that captured the shot was not part of the broadcast system reaching the VAR room during the match. The production company recovered the image and showed it later. Its failure to reach the video room did not affect their work, in his words.

Marcelo himself had plenty to say to the referee at the time during the match, according to the conversation revealed by the Movistar network at the time, and reported by AS: "He pulled my hair, man! He pulled my hair." The referee replied: "He only put his hands on you," then carried on running, to which Marcelo responded: "What a disgrace."

Read also: Will 70 million euros be enough? Liverpool find their man in Barcelona star

Barcelona beat Real Madrid 3-1 in the 2023 Spanish Super Cup final in Riyadh in mid-January 2023, and the closing moments brought another flashpoint the referee let slide.

Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea had just awarded Barcelona a free kick when Gavi grabbed the ball to stop play. Ceballos reacted by yanking the Barcelona teenager's hair hard from behind. Gavi shoved him. Robert Lewandowski and Jules Koundé waded in to cool things down as Vinicius Junior joined the melee.

De Burgos Bengoetxea missed the original incident, and merely issued a verbal warning to the players. No yellow, no red, and all with VAR technology in place

La Liga has already dealt with something close to the Vinicius episode. Matchweek 37 of last season, Levante against Mallorca, and a hair-pulling incident that cost two players their place on the pitch. Mojica, then at Mallorca, grabbed the hair of Levante forward Brugui after the striker had gone to ground. Both men walked, Mojica for the pull and Brugui for the slap he threw back in response.

Mojica was suspended for two matches for "violent conduct" against an opponent away from play, meaning neither man was competing for the ball. That precedent may well hint at what awaits Vinicius.

The ban wiped out the rest of Mojica's season. He then moved to Getafe over the summer and sat out the opening fixture of this campaign against Deportivo Alaves.