Fools are those who believe in slow motion. Free Zé Ivaldo!

My friends, here Lombardo Gomes, his former active narrator. The record-breaking sports journalist for jabá ads in all media: radio, television, newspapers and magazines. By the way, I miss my dear friends from Forninho, Fornão, Estevam, Porão Italiano.

Nelson Rodrigueswith whom I once got into an argument in the middle of Maracanã over a pack of cigarettes, rightly predicted: “Videotape is dumb”. Well, I would add, without intending to place myself on the same level, which is another, of the smoky playwright: “And slow motion too!”

The duel between Athletico and Palmeiras, at Estádio Joaquim Américo, for the national event, reserved a match worthy of a manual, an encyclopedic episode, so that future generations can, in the future, understand the past and, more notably, the witchcraft that is the so-called Video Assistant Refereethe so-called VAR.

Zé Ivaldoperhaps the last example of one of the most important dynasties of defenders, that of the goatee defender, uses the famous chambão in endrick, or, as a friend of mine would say, a kind of “cotombrada”. Ethical, didactic throw, just protection for the ball to leave, calmly, through the bottom line.

There wasn’t even one, among the more than 33,000 people packed into the sports square, who would immediately suggest taking down the maximum penalty. Not even the referee, who saw what was to be seen and intuited what was to be intuited: nothing to score.

But behold, the video of the bid is used. And, in slow motion, you see everything, you see so much, that you see even more than there was. At normal speed, the shock is overwhelmingly banal. It has the gravity of bumping into a stranger when crossing the street.

Now, applying the technique of slow motion, in the VAR’s refrigerated room, and Zé Ivaldo’s bump into Endrick can be classified as prohibited for under-18s, almost pornographic. The athletican seems to attack the Palmeirense with the fury with which Jack Torrance applies axes to the door in O Iluminado.

It can be seen, therefore, how the presentation of the video decisively influences the perception of referees who, as you know, are not known worldwide for their perspicacity. There is even a determination by the Board to disregard the evaluation at 240 frames per second, under the risk of distorting reality.

It is clear that the hyenas will read this text as a defense of Athletico, of the vacillating Zé Ivaldo. And even before reaching the halfway point, they already posted comments on social networks, shamelessly displaying their raucous worldview. It’s okay, it doesn’t matter.

If there’s something I’ve never hid from, it’s giving an opinion. It’s more than 50 years of career without being on the fence, without breaking new ground. Therefore, I have no qualms about answering the fatal question: after all, was it a penalty or not? I don’t know, maybe yes, maybe not.

For sure, trust me: fools are those who believe in slow motion.