Was referee Sven Jablonski showing a Uruguay player two yellow cards yet failing to send him off? The incident has drawn strong criticism.
Confusion surrounded Manuel Ugarte during Uruguay’s 1-1 draw against England in a friendly at Wembley. German referee Sven Jablonski seemingly issued two yellow cards to the Manchester United midfielder but did not dismiss him, leading to intense criticism. Questions arose whether official statistics were later altered.
What exactly happened? In the 70th minute, Referee Jablonski awarded England a free-kick after Ugarte stepped on Cole Palmer’s foot, also showing a yellow card. Just eleven minutes later, Jablonski and Ugarte were again central to the action, with Ugarte receiving another yellow, this time for dissent.
However, instead of being sent off, the Uruguayan continued playing for another six minutes before coach Marcelo Bielsa substituted him for Brian Rodriguez in the 87th minute. Consequently, Uruguay played with eleven men until the end, eventually scoring an equalizer in the fourth minute of stoppage time through a penalty from Real Madrid star Fede Valverde.
‘Not a Good Performance at All!’ Tuchel Criticizes Referee Jablonski
‘I didn’t think it was a good performance at all,’ England coach Thomas Tuchel fumed about the referee after the final whistle. ‘There were discussions about a player receiving two yellow cards in a game but not being sent off. A bad day for him.’
‘They’re just making it up as if we didn’t see what we saw. With Palmer, it was Ugarte who tackled him, and then it looked like he was also cautioned for dissent,’ stated former England striker Ian Wright.
In the end, even the confusion was confused, as Harry Maguire explained: ‘We were told that Ugarte was shown two yellow cards, and the second one was rescinded, which is new to us,’ said the defender. ‘Now we’ve been informed that the first of those yellow cards for Ugarte was actually intended for [Jose Maria] Gimenez. So, instead of two yellow cards, Ugarte received no yellow cards at all.’
Jablonski Remains Silent on Alleged Card Faux Pas
Meanwhile, official match statistics now state that Gimenez was indeed cautioned with a yellow card in the 70th minute, and Ugarte received his yellow card in the 81st minute. Whether these are adjusted statistics to cover a serious error by Jablonski or simply a result of massive confusion, the referee himself has not yet commented on the incident.