The referee of Chelsea’s Club World Cup semi-final clash against Fluminese revealed why he opted not to give a penalty to the Brazilian side during Tuesday’s match.
French official Francois Letexier explained his decision as he was mic’d up for the crowd to listen in during the encounter at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
Letexier, 36, initially gave Fluminense a spot-kick in the 37th minute after adjudging Trevoh Chalobah to have handled the ball inside the penalty area.
But he then overturned his decision on advice from the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) and restarted the contest with a drop ball.
Explaining his decision, Letexier said: ‘After video review, the handball committed [Chalobah] saw his hand in a natural position, meaning the offence is not punishable [with the awarding of a penalty kick]’.
It proved to be a pivotal moment in the match, denying Fluminense the chance to level proceedings from the spot after Joao Pedro opened the scoring on his debut for Enzo Maresca’s side.
The referee of Chelsea’s Club World Cup semi-final clash against Fluminese revealed why he opted not to give a penalty
French official Francois Letexier explained his decision as he was mic’d up for the crowd to listen in during the encounter at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey
The Brazilian striker, who joined Chelsea from Brighton for £60million, doubled his goal tally for his new side shortly before the hour mark.
That earnt Chelsea a place in Sunday’s final, which will see them come up against PSG or Real Madrid, who face one another on Wednesday.
Fans wanting to watch Chelsea’s clash against Fluminense could do so for less than the price of a beer at MetLife Stadium.
Prices for standard admission to the match were slashed to just $13.40 (£10.50) on Saturday, a fraction of the $473.90 (£373) that fans were being asked to pay less than three days earlier.
The price cuts, which were first reported by The Athletic, mean supporters could pay less for a ticket than for a pint of beer at MetLife, where a cold one can set you back $14 (£11).
The dramatic price drop came as FIFA has battles to avoid swathes of empty seats at the Club World Cup.
The tournament, being held for the first time in its new 32-team format, has seen fluctuating crowds, with some group games witnessing tens of thousands of empty seats despite heavy promotion.
MetLife has already hosted five matches at this summer’s tournament with widely varying attendances.
There were 76,611 fans at MetLife Stadium to watch Real Madrid beat Dortmund on Saturday — the biggest attendance of the 2025 Club World Cup so far — and FIFA want more big crowds
While 76,611 fans packed in to watch Real Madrid beat Borussia Dortmund on Saturday other fixtures have struggled to draw similar crowds.
There have been numerous attendances below 40,000 – including 35,179 (Palmeiras vs Al Ahly), 39,893 (Porto vs Al Ahly), 34,736 (Fluminense vs Dortmund) and 29,321 (Fluminense vs Ulsan).
To boost attendances, FIFA has employed a dynamic pricing model, resulting in ticket prices swinging wildly in the build-up to matches.
Prices for Chelsea’s clash with Fluminense initially remained high but tumbled sharply over the weekend, while tickets in the lower ring — typically among the most expensive — also dropped to around $44.60 (£35) for the game.
The pricing strategy has left some early buyers frustrated, with fans who purchased tickets at the original high prices now seeing seats available for as little as three per cent of what they paid.
