Bad news continues for Melgar

Melgar, from Arequipa, suffered their second consecutive defeat in the Liga 1 (in addition to the walk-over game they lost). Furthermore, they will have to deal with the absence of their coach, Pablo Lavallén, who was suspended for 6 matches for assaulting an assistant referee on Monday, February 13th.

According to CONAR's chief, Henry Gambetta, referee Michael Espinoza's match report states that the coach of the red and black team hit assistant referee Abraham Loayza during a complaint in their loss against Deportivo Municipal.

"The referee's report confirms a situation in the 18th minute, where Melgar's coach hit the assistant referee three times with his fist in the lower back, in a moment of desperation," said Gambetta in an interview with RPP.

Gambetta also indicated that, due to the legal dispute over broadcasting rights, there are no images that corroborate the alleged assault; however, "we trust what the referees say."

Lavallén responds

Upon learning about his suspension, the Argentine coach commented on the incident with the assistant referee: "Pablo Magnin had to leave the field because he had some bracelets. He left for about five minutes and I told the linesman to let him back in. We were down one player. He didn't listen. The play was on the other side and that was the whole conversation," he said.

"He explained the situation of my player and left. I asked him 'why are you sending me off'. I went back to Abraham, the linesman, because I never insulted him verbally. He told me that there are different ways to complain. That was it. When I saw the report, I was surprised," he added.