Referee Committee Rules Hapoel Be'er Sheva Was Denied Penalty Against Maccabi Tel Aviv

The Israeli Football Association's refereeing committee has concluded that Hapoel Be'er Sheva was unjustly denied a penalty kick during their recent match against Maccabi Tel Aviv. The committee's findings, released on Tuesday, focused on the third round of league games, specifically the match played on Monday which Maccabi Tel Aviv won 4-1.

According to the report, in the 19th minute of the first half, a handball offense occurred in the box by Maccabi Tel Aviv's Issoufou Dayo during a corner kick. The committee stated that a penalty should have been awarded to Hapoel Be'er Sheva, noting that Dayo's hand was open and enlarged his body's volume. The report emphasized that the VAR official should have intervened since the on-field referee did not call a penalty.

The committee also addressed a penalty awarded to Maccabi Tel Aviv in the 33rd minute, which led to a goal by Dor Peretz. The committee determined that the referee should have allowed play to continue and validated the goal, rather than stopping the play to award the penalty. The VAR's decision to uphold the penalty was based on a perceived slight contact between the goalkeeper's foot and the attacking player's foot, which the committee deemed insufficient to warrant intervention according to guidelines that only permit intervention for clear errors.