Referee blows whistle to deny penalty, sparks outrage in Chelsea win

(Dan Tri) - Referee Francois Letexier blew his whistle and denied Fluminense a penalty. Although the French referee later explained, many people were still angry.

Chelsea beat Fluminense 2-0 last night to reach the FIFA Club World Cup final, with £60m new signing Joao Pedro scoring twice on his Blues debut.

Trevoh Chalobah let the ball touch his hand in the penalty area (Photo: Getty).

However, Fluminense also expressed their anger after the match. The reason was because referee Francois Letexier had blown the whistle, denying the club a penalty in a turning point situation.

In the 37th minute, the Brazilian representative was awarded a penalty on the left wing. The ball was sent into Chelsea's penalty area and hit the hand of midfielder Trevoh Chalobah. Initially, the French referee awarded Chelsea a penalty, but after consulting VAR, he withdrew this decision. The match continued with a dropped ball situation.

Referee Francois Letexier explained to the audience: “After reviewing the slow-motion video , I realized that the ball touched Trevoh Chalobah's hand, but it was unintentional. The Chelsea player's hand was in a natural position, so it did not constitute a foul that could be called a penalty.”

The referee initially awarded Fluminense a penalty (Photo: Getty).

However, he later changed his mind (Photo: Getty).

Chelsea were leading 1-0 at this point. Fluminense had a great chance to level the score if they had been awarded a penalty. However, they could not do so. The Brazilian club even conceded another goal, also by Joao Pedro.

That is why Fluminense players reacted so strongly to the referee's decision. On social media, many opinions said that the Brazilian club deserved a penalty because of Trevoh Chalobah's obvious handball. Some other opinions said that referees are inconsistent in awarding penalties. Many referees would have awarded Fluminense a penalty in this situation.

Even Chelsea fans felt lucky when their team escaped the penalty situation.

With a win over Fluminense, Chelsea have qualified for the final. Their opponents in the final match of the tournament will be the winner of the PSG vs Real Madrid match.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/trong-tai-be-coi-tu-choi-phat-den-gay-phan-no-trong-chien-thang-cua-chelsea-20250709092353349.htm