Chilean referee Piero Maza was at the center of controversy after officiating Wednesday's first leg of the Copa Sudamericana semifinal between Boca Juniors and Vasco da Gama at La Bombonera. In the 64th minute, he sent off Colombian Andrés Gómez of the Brazilian club with two yellow cards in a few seconds following an argument with the referee himself.
According to BioBioChile, the Chilean referee's decisions prompted reactions from fans of various teams on social media. Cooperativa also highlighted that Gómez received both bookings almost consecutively.
The first disputed incident came in the 7th minute. Boca's Argentine player Milton Delgado stamped on Gómez near his Achilles tendon, and Maza only showed him a yellow card.
Almost an hour later, Gómez himself was heading to the dressing room. The broadcaster DSports posted on X that the player received two yellow cards for pushing Piero Maza, leaving Boca with a one-man advantage at home.
The complaints also targeted the appointment. TNT Sports Brasil's account noted on X that Maza had refereed three Boca matches at La Bombonera in this edition of the tournament: the round of sixteen against Recoleta, the quarterfinal against São Paulo and now the semifinal against Vasco.
Despite being a man down, the result favored the Brazilians. Vasco won 1-0 with a header from Adson, according to ESPN's SportsCenter on X, and will take that advantage into the return leg in Brazil, whose date the sources do not specify.