World Cup 2018: Why the referee was right not to send Cristiano Ronaldo off after VAR call

Alan Shearer and Didier Drogba explained why he was right to only get a yellow card

The decision not to send Cristiano Ronaldo off during Portugal’s controversial 1-1 draw with Iran on Monday night was the correct one, according to Alan Shearer.

In a game dominated by decisions made by the Video Assistant Referee, the Portuguese captain was given a yellow card after an off-the-ball collision with Morteza Pouraliganji that was missed by referee Enrique Caceres.

Play was allowed to continue until Caceres got word in his ear that it was a potential red card offence and should therefore be checked on the pitch-side monitors.

Ronaldo was eventually booked but Shearer, who was on punditry duties for the BBC, said that he was right not to see red because it was not an obvious decision.

“The referee had to look at that for a good 30 or 40 seconds and when you have to look at it from four or five angles, it's not clear and obvious, is it?” he said. “If it's obvious, you look at one angle and you make your decision.”

Fellow pundit Didier Drogba was in agreement with Shearer, adding: “For me it's not a red card. Maybe not even a yellow because it took the referee too much time and if you want to use a card then it's red or nothing - that's my opinion.”

The referee, with the help of VAR, had earlier awarded Ronaldo a penalty – that he missed – before he used it in the dying seconds to award Iran a controversial penalty – one they scored to deny Portugal top spot in Group B.