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Chile wants to ban Copa América referee for “serious errors”

The Chilean Football Federation (FFC) has asked CONMEBOL to suspend referee Wilmar Roldan after the federation was eliminated from the Copa América on Saturday following a 0-0 draw with Canada.

The FCC complained that Colombian referee Roldan lacked impartiality during the matches and made “serious errors” in the match against the Canadians.

Chile were furious after Gabriel Suazo received a second yellow card in the 27th minute of the match in Orlando, forcing them to reduce their squad to ten men.

They also felt offended after Canadian defender Moïse Bombito apparently elbowed Rodrigo Echeverria in the fifth minute of the game, but VAR did not review the incident.

In the letter addressed to the CONMEBOL Referees Committee, the FCC said Roldan also made “blatant errors” at the 2021 Copa América when he failed to award a penalty to Chile in a 2-0 loss to Paraguay in the group stage.

CONMEBOL rejected a request from the FCC to suspend the referee after this match.

“The FFC requests that referee Wilmar Roldan be given an indefinite and permanent suspension and/or the maximum penalty that can be imposed for such catastrophic conduct,” the FCC wrote in the letter signed by Secretary General Jorge Yunge Williams.

“This is consistent with Mr Roldan’s recurring behavior in the matches in which he leads the Chilean national team.”

The FFC also criticized the refereeing performance in the other group matches against Argentina and Peru, saying that Uruguayan Andres Matonte and Brazilian Wilton Sampaio were guilty of “questionable refereeing decisions.”

Chile were eliminated from the tournament after failing to score a single goal. The 2015 and 2016 Copa winners had not been eliminated before the quarter-finals of the tournament since 2004.