It’s safe to say that World Cup referee Daniel Siebert won’t be a popular man in the nation of Uruguay in the days – or years – to come. He certainly wasn’t among the Uruguay national team at the end of today’s game against Ghana.
Despite being Ghana 2-0, Uruguay were eliminated from the World Cup by South Korea on tiebreakers. Had they scored one more goal, they would have advanced to the knockout round.
Throughout the game there were a number of ticky-tack calls that went against Uruguay. Several potential penalties for Uruguay were not awarded, even after Siebert’s review via VAR.
As a result, when the game ended, a number of Uruguayan players followed Siebert into the tunnel. A few even tried grabbing at him, earning post-game yellow cards for that flagrant violation of the rules.
It wasn’t just Seibert that got a talking to either. At least one of the assistant referees could be seen getting yelled at by a furious player.
It’s not known what happened between Siebert and the Uruguay players after they entered the tunnel. But one thing we do know is that FIFA is not going to let Uruguay get away with it.
Stiff fines and potential suspensions could be forthcoming.
Maybe if Uruguay had handled their business against South Korea or Portugal in the first two rounds, they wouldn’t have to worry about being in this position.