An Argentinian referee has landed himself in trouble after overturning his decision to award a penalty and a red card after it was reported that his assistant saw a replay on a TV monitor in one of the dugouts and told him to change his mind.

The referee, German Delfino, deemed that the Arsenal player Daniel Valencia prevented a goalscoring opportunity against Vélez Sarsfield by handling the ball in the area and the player was sent off, while Vélez were awarded a penalty. During the protests that followed, the replays showed it was instead the Vélez striker Mariano Pavone who handled the ball.

As the Vélez players readied to take the penalty, Delfino decided to overturn his decision – apparently on the advice of his assistant who appeared to have seen a replay on monitors in the Arsenal bench – and the referee allowed Valencia to rejoin his teammates on the pitch.

Delfino, who has admitted his performance was “messy”, has been suspended for one match for failing to control the game and will be allowed to return only in the lower leagues. Though the refereeing team maintain that overturning their decision had nothing to do with the instant replays on the Arsenal bench, the suspicion it was an unofficial use of video technology lingers.

The game, which Vélez went to win 2-1, also offered an additional talking point when Valencia was sent off again during extra time after receiving a second yellow card for a professional foul, thus becoming the first player to be sent off twice during the same game in the Argentinian league.