The VAR audios of the two major controversies from the draw between Boca and Cruzeiro were revealed.

The 1-1 draw between Boca and Cruzeiro in the Copa Libertadores left a strong refereeing controversy and generated a climate of anger in the team led by Claudio Úbeda due to two highly disputed plays that could have given them the victory: the disallowed goal by Miguel Merentiel and the possible penalty for handball by Lucas Romero. Hours after the match at La Bombonera, CONMEBOL released the VAR audios to explain the decisions in both plays.

The action that caused the most anger in Xeneize occurred at 88 minutes, when Merentiel scored what seemed to be the winning goal. However, after a review on the monitor, Venezuelan referee Jesús Valenzuela invalidated the play due to a previous handball by Milton Delgado.

According to the South American entity, the decision was made because the Boca player "blocks the ball with his arm, which was in an unnatural position and occupying space", resulting in a penalizable handball infringement.

In the published audios, it can be heard how the VAR booth detects the contact and considers that the action had a direct impact on the goal. "Hand in attack. White heads, the arm is open and it hits the hand and goes down", the VAR states during the review. Then, the assistant confirms: "The contact is visible".

The communication continued with the invitation to the main referee to review the play on the monitor, stating in the analysis that the hand "changes the direction of the ball". After observing the images, Valenzuela made the final decision: "Okay, I'm going with hand".

There were also strong protests from Boca regarding another action that occurred just a few minutes later. After a clearance inside the area, Lucas Romero controlled the ball with his left arm before clearing it, and the entire local team claimed for a penalty. However, in that play, the VAR did not even call the referee to review the action.

The explanation released by CONMEBOL stated that "the defender's arm was in a natural position as a result of his body movement and justifiable for the action he performed".

In the conversation among the referees, it can be heard how they quickly dismiss the infringement. "The situation in the area, all checked. The position of the hand is in a natural position. Also, he wants to move his arm away and the context is outward".

With those conclusions, Valenzuela ended the match amid the complaints from players, coaching staff, and Boca fans, who were dissatisfied with the refereeing criteria used in both plays.

Interestingly, in the videos published by the South American entity, the analysis of Cruzeiro's goal did not appear, an action that had also been reviewed during the match for a presumed previous handball by Kaiki Bruno before the cross that resulted in the Brazilian equalizer.