According to Football Espana via Spanish publication AS, an error in the translation of IFAB’s English rules to Spanish is the reason why Sergio Ramos escaped punishment for an apparent stamp.
Real Madrid were fortunate that VAR didn’t intervene when their skipper appeared to stamp on Athletic Bilbao star Raul Garcia when it looked as though a cross was about to be sent into the box.
The International Football Association Board’s rules are originally written in English, it seems as though a mistranslation of these guidelines led to the Spanish officials’ decision to not look into the incident.
Ramos’ stamp took place off-the-ball and IFAB deem that regardless of there being no direct action in play, a penalty should be awarded in this instance.
However the mistranslated version of the rule in Spanish strangely states that ‘contesting the ball with an opponent’ is a requirement for an incident like this to be deemed a foul.
Take a look at the incident below:
Ahí está el balón mientras Ramos pisa a Raul García, Muniain se la pasa a Yuri pic.twitter.com/M0JJKhEeNf
— Jorge Álvarez (@Coquelin03) July 5, 2020
Pictures from La Liga and beIN Sports.
It’s absolutely shocking to see that one of Europe’s top leagues have made such a critical mistake, this incident came just minutes after Ramos fired Los Blancos into the lead.
If the law had been translated correctly, Bilbao would’ve been awarded a penalty and the glorious chance to level the score.
Incidents like this of course have massive implications on the rest of the league, Los Blancos have a four-point lead at the top of the table – meaning rivals Barcelona are playing second-fiddle in the title race.
Were this decision to be made correctly, Bilbao’s encounter with Madrid could’ve ended as a draw, meaning Barcelona’s would’ve been just two points off their heated rivals.