With Sergio Ramos promoting the launch of his ‘The Legend of Sergio Ramos’ documentary at an event, which is set to air on Amazon Prime, the Real Madrid captain offered some surprise support to refs.
The introduction of VAR across the world’s top football leagues has undoubtedly seen the criticism of match officials intensify, perhaps due to the fact that fans and pundits are presented with a look at how decisions are made.
Ramos, who turns 35 years old at the end of the month and has an expiring contract with Los Blancos, admitted that the referees deserve the same ‘respect’ as players are afforded.
The centre-back admitted that match officials are ‘people’ too, leaving them prone to mistakes just like players. Ramos also stated that he has always been in ‘favour’ of VAR.
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Sergio Ramos: “Lo más inteligente es estar al margen de las decisiones arbitrales. Se pueden equivocar. Yo siempre he estado a favor del VAR. Los árbitros se merecen el mismo respecto que un jugador. Démosles cariño para que puedan hacer su trabajo lo mejor posible”.
— Arancha Rodríguez (@AranchaMOBILE) March 11, 2021
?? @SergioRamos, sobre
el tuit del Atlético de Madrid:“Los árbitros son personas y se pueden equivocar. Se merecen el mismo respeto que un rival o un compañero”.
? Te esperamos a las 18:00 en #SportPlus en nuestro Twitch:
?https://t.co/D7dqcx1x2q pic.twitter.com/syfFaV0lDT— El Chiringuito TV (@elchiringuitotv) March 11, 2021
“The smartest thing is to be on the sidelines of refereeing decisions. They can be wrong. I have always been in favour of the VAR.”
“Referees deserve the same respect as a player. Let’s give them love so that they can do their job as well as possible.”
“Referees are people and they can make mistakes. They deserve the same respect as a rival or a teammate.”
Ramos’ comments come after Real Madrid missed out on a penalty against cross-town rivals Atletico earlier this week, in a decision that VAR stepped in and overruled after a potential handball incident.
It’s fair to assume that no one would’ve expected such public and vocal support for the referees to come from a man that has went into their books plenty of times. Ramos never ceases to amaze.