{"id":106591,"date":"2023-10-04T12:34:07","date_gmt":"2023-10-04T12:34:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/10\/04\/its-football-not-pingpong\/"},"modified":"2023-10-04T12:34:07","modified_gmt":"2023-10-04T12:34:07","slug":"its-football-not-pingpong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/10\/04\/its-football-not-pingpong\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s Football, Not Pingpong!\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Rafa-Benitez.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"><\/div>\n<p><strong>Rafa Benitez<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Celta Vigo\u2019s Rafa Benitez has become the latest high-profile manager to hit out at VAR after his side had a goal ruled out in their 2-1 LaLiga defeat at Las Palmas on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>The visiting side thought they opened the scoring in the first half through J\u00f8rgen Strand Larsen but it was disallowed after a VAR review adjudged Las Palmas defender Mika M\u00e1rmol was fouled in the buildup.<\/p>\n<p>The defeat sees Benitez\u2019s team drop into the relegation zone after eight matches and he was furious with the VAR decision.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow can we not lose in the end? If we score a legal goal and they take it away from you,\u201d Benitez said in his postmatch interview.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn that play, my player is ahead, he is in front, I\u2019m watching it right now. I don\u2019t understand where the foul is. We will have to play something else if that is a foul.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnyone can see it, it makes no sense to call those things. It can\u2019t be, this is football. We\u2019re not talking about pingpong. We\u2019re continually rowing against the current.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>VAR has been under the spotlight especially in England after Luiz Diaz\u2019s goal for Liverpool was incorrectly disallowed in their 2-1 defeat at Tottenham on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>The VAR officials failed to overturn the incorrect offside decision to disallow the goal leading the English referees\u2019 body PGMOL to issue a statement blaming \u201csignificant human error\u201d in the Premier League game.<\/p>\n<p>Forest and Brentford managers Steve Cooper and Thomas Frank were also highly critical of VAR following the 1-1 draw between their teams on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p><!-- AI CONTENT END 2 --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rafa Benitez Celta Vigo\u2019s Rafa Benitez has become the latest high-profile manager to hit out at VAR after his side had a goal ruled out in their 2-1 LaLiga defeat at Las Palmas on Monday. The visiting side thought they opened the scoring in the first half through J\u00f8rgen Strand Larsen but it was disallowed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":106592,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-106591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>\u2018It\u2019s Football, Not Pingpong!\u2019 - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/10\/04\/its-football-not-pingpong\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018It\u2019s Football, Not Pingpong!\u2019 - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rafa Benitez Celta Vigo\u2019s Rafa Benitez has become the latest high-profile manager to hit out at VAR after his side had a goal ruled out in their 2-1 LaLiga defeat at Las Palmas on Monday. The visiting side thought they opened the scoring in the first half through J\u00f8rgen Strand Larsen but it was disallowed [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/10\/04\/its-football-not-pingpong\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-10-04T12:34:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Rafa-Benitez.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"760\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"427\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ghana News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ghana News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/10\/04\/its-football-not-pingpong\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/10\/04\/its-football-not-pingpong\/\",\"name\":\"\u2018It\u2019s Football, Not Pingpong!\u2019 - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/10\/04\/its-football-not-pingpong\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/10\/04\/its-football-not-pingpong\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Rafa-Benitez.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-04T12:34:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-04T12:34:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/#\/schema\/person\/6f91dab2e50bbbfe895c93e7e84e7f74\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/10\/04\/its-football-not-pingpong\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/10\/04\/its-football-not-pingpong\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/10\/04\/its-football-not-pingpong\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Rafa-Benitez.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Rafa-Benitez.jpg\",\"width\":760,\"height\":427},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/10\/04\/its-football-not-pingpong\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u2018It\u2019s Football, Not Pingpong!\u2019\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"Ghana mma provides breaking news, top stories in Ghana, Africa, business, entertainment, politics and more.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/#\/schema\/person\/6f91dab2e50bbbfe895c93e7e84e7f74\",\"name\":\"Ghana News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ghana News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/author\/ghanamma\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\u2018It\u2019s Football, Not Pingpong!\u2019 - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/10\/04\/its-football-not-pingpong\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\u2018It\u2019s Football, Not Pingpong!\u2019 - Ghanamma.com","og_description":"Rafa Benitez Celta Vigo\u2019s Rafa Benitez has become the latest high-profile manager to hit out at VAR after his side had a goal ruled out in their 2-1 LaLiga defeat at Las Palmas on Monday. The visiting side thought they opened the scoring in the first half through J\u00f8rgen Strand Larsen but it was disallowed [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/10\/04\/its-football-not-pingpong\/","og_site_name":"Ghanamma.com","article_published_time":"2023-10-04T12:34:07+00:00","og_image":[{"width":760,"height":427,"url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Rafa-Benitez.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ghana News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ghana News","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/10\/04\/its-football-not-pingpong\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/10\/04\/its-football-not-pingpong\/","name":"\u2018It\u2019s Football, Not Pingpong!\u2019 - Ghanamma.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/10\/04\/its-football-not-pingpong\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/10\/04\/its-football-not-pingpong\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Rafa-Benitez.jpg","datePublished":"2023-10-04T12:34:07+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-04T12:34:07+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/#\/schema\/person\/6f91dab2e50bbbfe895c93e7e84e7f74"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/10\/04\/its-football-not-pingpong\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/10\/04\/its-football-not-pingpong\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/10\/04\/its-football-not-pingpong\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Rafa-Benitez.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Rafa-Benitez.jpg","width":760,"height":427},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/10\/04\/its-football-not-pingpong\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u2018It\u2019s Football, Not Pingpong!\u2019"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/","name":"Ghanamma.com","description":"Ghana mma provides breaking news, top stories in Ghana, Africa, business, entertainment, politics and more.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/#\/schema\/person\/6f91dab2e50bbbfe895c93e7e84e7f74","name":"Ghana News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ghana News"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023"],"url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/author\/ghanamma\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}