UEFA has dismissed a formal complaint by AC Milan against referee Cüneyt Çakir. The Milanese blamed the Turkish referee for giving a penalty in the closing stages of the game against Atlético Madrid in the Champions League, but according to the European Football Association, the fault is not with Çakir. Abdulkadir Bitigen, who was active as a video referee during the game, is punished by UEFA.
The second group match between Milan and Atlético was extremely messy last Tuesday. The home team enjoyed a lead for a long time, but had to bend 1-2 in the final phase due to an indirect red card from Franck Kessié and a questionable penalty kick by Antoine Griezmann and Luis Suárez. Çakir put the ball on the spot deep in injury time after a handball from Pierre Kalulu, but according to Milan, a handball from Thomas Lemar preceded this. Çakir decided not to go to the screen and was therefore the basis of Atlético’s victory.
Milan then demanded a sanction from the Turkish referee and filed a formal complaint with UEFA. Milan also demanded financial compensation for missing out on compensation, which they were entitled to in the event of a draw. According to the Italian top club, Çakir has never been able to see Lemar’s handball from the field. There was also a lot of discussion about Kessié’s second yellow card. The midfielder committed a foul on Marcos Llorente with a yellow card in his pocket and was able to attack after half an hour. Just before that, Milan had taken a 1-0 lead via Rafael Leão.
“The referee was not the best man on the field,” Milan coach Stefano Pioli expressed his dissatisfaction with Çakir’s performance afterwards. However, UEFA has decided not to suspend the referee and has appointed the Turk for Friday’s World Cup qualifier between Germany and Romania. According to calciomercato the sanction for the hectic final phase fell on Bitigen, who was head of the VAR. He has to miss the game between Germany and Romania and is replaced by Hüseyin Göçek.
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