Referee Andrés Merlos, whose controversial decisions allowed Lanús to beat Arsenal 3-2 on Friday with a winner nine minutes into added time, has been suspended indefinitely.
«Referee Andrés Merlos has been suspended for an indeterminate period,» the Argentine FA said in a one-line statement on its website (www.afa.org.ar) today.
Lanús’ victory allowed them to close the gap behind River Plate to two points in second place in the Transición standings after the leaders were held 1-1 at Vélez Sarsfield.
River, nevertheless, extended their record unbeaten run to 31 matches. They have 32 points to Lanus’s 30 after 14 matches, with Racing Club, who beat Banfield 1-0, third on 29 having played one more game.
At Lanús on Friday, the home side were 2-1 down after 90 minutes when referee Merlos added five minutes of stoppage time, during which they equalised.
Merlos then allowed play to continue for another four minutes, with the Arsenal bench clamouring for the match to end, and made controversial decisions in both penalty areas.
Arsenal had a good chance disallowed for offside, which video replays suggested was wrongly flagged, and Lanús scored the winner in the ninth minute of added time through Lautaro Acosta despite Silvio Romero’s handball in the build-up.
Merlos was surrounded by angry Arsenal players and coach Martín Palermo, and needed a police escort off the pitch.
Arsenal club president Julio Grondona, son of the late AFA chief of the same name, said he would raise a complaint before the game’s governing body because Merlos had failed to restart the match after the last goal.
Source: Buenos Aires Herald