Costa Rican paper Al Dia is reporting that FIFA is investigating Joel Campbell for his dive that got Matt Besler suspended for the match with Mexico.
A week ago in the World Cup qualifying match in Costa Rica, Campbell walked behind Besler and suddenly collapsed in a heap with what appeared to be zero contact.
The assistant referee made the call, and Mexican match official Marco Antonio Rodríguez heeded his understudy’s decision, issuing the unsuspecting Besler a yellow card.
Besler told reporters afterwards that he felt “cheated” and that “it sucked.”
Instead of either acknowledging or refuting FIFA’s decision to investigate his player, Costa Rica’s coach Jorge Luis Pinto decided to hit out at what he calls illegal positioning of cameras by the United States.
“It worries me and makes me angry,” said Pinto, “because of the illegal gesture from the US of placing cameras behind the coaching staff. They can’t refute that, but we shouldn’t have allowed that. It’s a camera that confuses the rule. It is an aggressive and resented act from the US.”
Obviously, it’s way more important that his player got caught potentially cheating in what he believes to be an illegal manner, rather than address the fact that his player essentially pulled a cheap shot.
MLSsoccer.com reported that they have assurance from the US Soccer Federation that the cameras were in fact legal.
If FIFA find Campbell guilty of any wrongdoing, they would not be able to rescind Besler’s yellow card or his suspension, but they would be able to punish Campbell appropriately.
Costa Rica has already qualified for the World Cup.
