The Colombian is the one who has directed the most matches in the history of the continental competition and has a long list of much-discussed achievements and attitudes.
The date was confirmed, the two teams qualified, the venue was confirmed and fan tickets were sold. The only thing that was still unknown was the person responsible for the administration of justice. And finally came the confirmation from CONMEBOL: Wilmar Roldán will be the referee of the 2023 Copa Libertadores final between Boca and Fluminense next Saturday, November 4 in Maracaná.
The choice of the 43-year-old Colombian is not surprising from an experience point of view: internationally since 2008, he has coached 116 matches in the continental tournament, more than any other in South America. In addition, throughout his career he took part in two World Cups (Brazil 2014 and Russia 2018), a Club World Cup (2016) and 17 qualifying matches.
However, in addition to his roles, Roldán’s career has also been marked by many controversies. Interestingly, the most recent of them all involves one of the two finalists: Roldán was in charge of the first leg of the semi-final between Boca and Palmeiras at La Bombonera and was caught by cameras recording before the start of the match with his mobile phone. the breath of the Xeneize fans and was photographed looking towards one of the stands.
Furthermore, the Colombian was questioned many times about the way he addresses footballers and because he usually ignores VAR recommendations: his time at the 2018 World Cup ended after his second match because he wrongly awarded a penalty for Saudi Arabia against Egypt imposed and refused to do so. reverse the ruling after the call from the video room. Something similar had happened in the 2017 Libertadores semi-finals between River and Lanús, where the criteria used to judge plays were decisive for Granate to reverse the series.
As for his recent history with both finalists: in the current edition he directed Boca in the aforementioned first leg of the semi-finals against Palmeiras, which ended 0-0 and without major controversies, while in two matches of the group stage of the Fluminense played: the 3 -1 victory as a visitor over Sporting Cristal, where they finally defeated the Peruvian Yotún, and the 2-0 defeat against River at the Monumental, in which they rightly awarded a penalty in the last match in favor of the local team of the match.
Wilmar Roldán’s numbers in the Copa Libertadores
In the 116 games he has coached in the premier CONMEBOL competition, Roldán has imposed 40 penalties (an average of almost one every three games) and sent off 58 players, 37 for a direct red card and 21 with a double warning . In addition, he showed 631 yellow cards, a high average of five per match.
Source: Goal
Gregory Robert is a sports aficionado and a writer for “Social Bites”. He provides in-depth coverage of the latest sporting events and trends, offering a unique and knowledgeable perspective on the world of sports.