In Argentina’s second tier, a goalless meeting between Old Boys and Godoy Cruz produced an extraordinary late intervention: with no video assistant referee available, Old Boys players used a mobile-phone replay to persuade referee Nicolás Lamolina to overturn a penalty decision.
Key takeaways
- The match finished 0-0 after the disputed decision was reversed.
- Lamolina initially awarded Godoy Cruz a penalty in the closing stages.
- A member of the Old Boys staff brought video footage of the incident to the pitch.
- An Old Boys player showed the replay to the referee, who cancelled the spot-kick.
A phone replay changes the decision
The unusual episode came in a competition without VAR coverage. Lamolina pointed to the spot for Godoy Cruz after an incident near the end of the match, but the Old Boys camp believed the call had been wrong.
Play remained stopped long enough for a member of the coaching staff to obtain a phone containing a replay. The device was passed to an Old Boys player, who repeatedly sought to show the footage to the official.
After reviewing the images on the handset, Lamolina withdrew the penalty award. The improvised review, quickly dubbed “CeluVAR” in reference to the Spanish word for mobile phone, ensured that neither side found a breakthrough in the eventual scoreless draw.
