After Uruguay was eliminated from the World Cup in the group stage, Edinson Cavani demanded that referee Daniel Siebert be “placed in jail.”
The former Manchester United striker was a member of the team that defeated Ghana 2-0 in their last group match in Qatar, but they were eliminated when South Korea defeated Portugal 2-1, necessitating a third goal for Uruguay to advance.
Cavani vented his frustration at Uruguay’s early elimination on a VAR monitor following the game after they were refused a penalty.
Cavani expressed his continued rage about their exit at what is likely to be his final World Cup at the age of 35 in remarks to El Larguero via Marca.
He said:
‘They have to put him in jail. But if they penalise me for hitting the VAR, the referee, for having taken us out of the World Cup, they have to put him in jail.’
The striker, who is currently on the roster of Valencia, said that Siebert had committed “mistakes” during the game.
Due to a collision between Ghana’s Alidu Seidu and Uruguay’s Darwin Nunez, Uruguay felt they should have received a penalty, which is what caused them to become upset.
After the game, Siebert issued a flurry of yellow cards, including one to Cavani, who also thought he had been wrongfully denied a penalty.
A never-ending barrage of complaints continued as nearly the whole 26-man Uruguayan team chased the referee and his assistants off the field and down the tunnel.
While teammate Jose Maria Gimenez may receive a lengthy suspension for elbowing FIFA‘s competition director in the back of the head, Cavani slammed a VAR monitor, knocking it over.
When asked if he was concerned about receiving punishment after the match against Ghana, Cavani responded:
‘Yes, of course it worries me, because it would be out of competition with my teammates, my club and my team. It worries me.
‘But these are things that happen.’
‘But they have to get a little on the footballer’s side, not only the referee and others, on the footballer’s side to see what has happened, why it has happened and why things have happened the way they have.
‘It’s okay that we have to maintain a behaviour and so on, but we are human beings and when sometimes the things that happen [on the pitch] are lived with passion and you work so hard to get there and compete and this and the other.
‘It may also be that the reaction of a footballer inside can be, not justified, but a little more forgiven.’
