[Saba Sports News] In Round 31 of La Liga, Real Madrid drew 1-1 with Girona at home. In the 88th minute of the match, Kylian Mbappé was elbowed by Reis and fell to the ground after a series of dribbles inside the penalty area, but the referee signaled no foul. The decision sparked controversy after the game. Mbappé suffered a bleeding head injury following the elbow strike, yet television broadcasts did not show the footage of his bleeding. It was only through images captured by photojournalists that the severity of the impact on the French player became visible to the public. However, La Liga stated to the media that there had been no instruction to withhold the footage of Mbappé’s bleeding. The replay of Reis’s elbow strike was aired as many as eight times, indicating that La Liga did not intend to downplay the incident. There are no provisions or guidelines in La Liga’s broadcast regulations that prohibit showing blood or the consequences of other aggressive actions, which differs from how other incidents—such as fans invading the pitch—are handled.
The editor believes that the VAR system, which is supposed to correct obvious misjudgments and missed calls, chose to “stay invisible” this time and did not intervene for a review. Real Madrid’s medical staff rushed onto the pitch to stop the bleeding and bandage Mbappé. The tape on his forehead and the bloodstains on his jersey became the most striking evidence of this controversy.