Sporting is the one who complains the most about refereeing in the Spanish League National football

Two seasons ago, there was a relative balance of refereeing errors in matches between Sporting, Benfica and Porto – and the Reds could not complain as much as they did back then. Two seasons ago, the three split the share of fouls better in the different categories, with one leading in penalties, one in red cards, and one in goals disallowed. Last year, he went to FC Porto. This season, it's up to Sporting to complain a little more, even if not much.

This is a summary of the total errors indicated in the weekly logs Written by PÚBLICO specialist Pedro Henriques The “Big Three” matches are judged by referees.

This year, as in other years, things end up balanced and everyone has reasons to complain here and there. And those who complain more one season end up “putting their guitar in the bag” the next year.

Oddly enough, Sporting, the national champions, are the ones who might complain the most about the 2023/24 season, especially regarding the penalties that will be awarded. Another relevant conclusion is that overall there were fewer refereeing errors than in other seasons.

Before moving on to the detailed analysis, it is important to clarify that the analysis involves the compilation of Pedro Henriques' weekly opinions and that it includes the direct calculation of errors and successes, without the subjective and incommensurable dimension of the weight of the penalty in a given match or the effect of the sending off at that moment in the match – or even the death of a disallowed goal. Badly, for example.

This exercise does not help in determining who would have been the champion if the referees had gotten everything they analyzed correct, but it does at least help in understanding a somewhat fair distribution of fouls.

Penalties to be awarded

In the penalty shootout category, Sporting had five fouls to be flagged in their favor and one foul in favor of their opponent. On the other hand, there was only one bad thing in their favor and one thing to note in their opponent's favor. In the end he lost.

This did not happen with FC Porto (they ended up winning more than losing) and with Benfica (they ended up with a “count” of zero between mistakes and successes).

From a red card perspective, Sporting have scored zero, with the balance between wins and losses, while Porto and Benfica have some red cards to show off to their players – six for the 'Dragons' and five for the 'Reds'. “, without the losses compensating for this record.

Note also the fact that FC Porto had too many Reds (nine) and that this value, in an ideal scenario of correct decisions, would have been 16.

In the field of disallowed goals, there were very few refereeing errors, thanks to the introduction of VAR technology, which practically eliminated this type of error. However, there were two disallowed goals against Sporting and another two against Benfica.

Some “dark” trips.

On closer analysis, there were some interesting cases. There have been cases such as the bad red shown to Deomande against Arroca that the VAR could not reverse, as it was a second yellow, such as the red shown to David Carmo against Visella – which in addition to being a second yellow was a case of protests, which did not fit With VAR protocol.

In Round 12 there were fertile arbitrations in important moves. In Famalicao – Porto, a penalty kick for scoring against the “Dragon”, a red card for Evanilson’s display and a good display by Zidou. In Moreirense-Benfica, there was red to show Minho's team. At the Sporting Gil Vicente stadium, two goals were disallowed in favor of the “Lions” and another in which an attacking foul was called on Guqueris’ goal – Pedro Henriques says this is an explanation.

Note also the eighteenth round, in which Pedro Henriques pointed out that there were serious errors in all the matches: two penalty kicks that were not given against Vizela Sporting, one against Porto Moreirense, and a disallowed goal against Benfica Boavista.

There were also two strange cases. Aderlan was sent off for a double yellow card in the match between Benfica-Rio Ave, in matchday 17, but only the second card was justified, a similar case to Regis's case at Estrella-Benfica. Consequently, they were both badly sent off, even though the offense that led to the sending off justified the yellow card shown at the time.

FC Porto also played two very rich matches. With disp. Chavez There was a penalty kick for pointing in favor of each team and a red card to show for Disciple. Keys. With Boavista, there was a penalty kick for each team, red for Boavista and red for Boavista fans.

In the end, everyone can complain, but the national champion might complain a little more. Since he won, he won't do that.