- Jude Bellingham thought he had scored a dramatic late winner for Real Madrid
- Referee Jesus Gil Manzano whistled a few seconds before his goal
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The referee who sent off Jude Bellingham for dissent will miss as many games as the England midfielder after being denied a match for the second weekend in a row.
Jesus Gil Manzano blew his whistle just before Bellingham scored for Real Madrid against Valencia two weeks ago. He then dismissed Bellingham when he protested.
Gil Manzano was denied a match last weekend for seven days after his controversial pastime, just as Bellingham scored what would have been the winner.
This week he was expected to return from the Spanish Football Federation’s ‘fridge’, but Spain’s Technical Committee of Referees has further punished Gil Manzano by denying him a match for the second week in a row. This means his unofficial suspension matches Bellingham’s official two-match suspension.
Despite his reputation as one of Spain’s best players and as the country’s representative at this year’s European Championship, Gil Manzano was criticized for his decision to rule out a Bellingham goal.
Jude Bellingham was given a two-match ban after being shown a straight red card
Jesus Gil Manzano blew his whistle moments before Bellingham scored against Valencia before sending the player off for a noisy protest
The Spanish official was removed from the match list last week and faces a similar fate this time
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Initially he only appeared to add an extra minute to the added time, despite a VAR check taking almost three minutes in added time. He then allowed Madrid to take a corner kick when the minute had already passed.
And after letting them take the corner, he gave no time after the corner was knocked away, instead blowing the whistle a second before Real Madrid’s Brahim Diaz crossed the ball for Bellingham to score.
Critics said he had broken the unwritten rule of not blowing the whistle when a team is in the middle of a potential goal-scoring situation.
Bellingham was then sent off for telling the referee: ‘It’s a bloody goal’. With international football coming up next week, Gil will have been without a referee for three weeks before his return.