In a recent match against Cartaginés, Wálter 'Paté' Centeno, the head coach of Santos de Guápiles, publicly expressed his discontent regarding a controversial decision made during the game, which took place on Saturday.

The incident in question involved a potential penalty not awarded to Santos, despite a review by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).

On March 11, the Arbitration Commission and Fedefútbol released video footage showing a foul committed by Cartaginés player Suhander Zúñiga against Santos' Randy Chirino within the penalty area.

Despite the clear evidence of a foul, central referee David Gómez failed to award a penalty, citing minimal contact as the reason for his decision.

Following the incident, the VAR officials—Keylor Herrera and Diego Salazar—reviewed the play and communicated with Gómez, recommending that he conduct a field review for a possible penalty.

However, after reviewing the footage on the monitor, Gómez chose to uphold his initial decision and did not change the outcome, a move that perplexed both Santos players and Centeno.

In a press conference after the match, broadcasted by Tigo Sports, Centeno articulated his frustration regarding what he characterized as an injustice to his team, which is currently struggling at the bottom of the league standings.

He stated, "If you know it was a penalty, imagine how hard it is for us.

It's tough.

This is not just football.

Technology is supposed to assist referees.

I don't know what happened at that moment.

I’m not one to complain about referees; I am a coach who believes in winning on the pitch.

It’s very difficult to talk about them."

Centeno acknowledged the challenges his team faces, noting, "We work every day with the awareness that we need to get out of this situation with our performance on the field, and we will achieve it, if God allows.

But then these obstacles appear, as I call them."

He emphasized the need to move forward, stating that his focus must now shift to the next match against Guanacasteca on Friday.

"In football, you learn every day.

We need to learn and move on, as I told the boys: forget the past, we have another match.

Let’s hope that football gives us a chance for redemption and that one day we receive a penalty call in our favor."

The release of the VAR footage included three clips, of which two were deemed accurate regarding penalty calls.

In one clip, a foul resulted in a penalty awarded to Herediano, while in another, a handball by a San Carlos player led to a penalty against their team in the match against Deportivo Saprissa.