Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano defends cellphone use from stands after ejection: ‘I adapted to the rules’

Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano isn’t apologizing for exploiting what appears to be a bizarre loophole in the International Football Association Board rulebook and Leagues Cup regulations.

“Whether it’s right or wrong, I adapted to the rules,” he said Friday, via USA Today. “The other thing is: I’m going to do everything I can to help my players. If someone thinks it’s wrong, that’s fine with me.”

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Mascherano went viral Wednesday for using his cellphone from the stands during the second half of his team’s 2-1 win over Tigres UANL in the Leagues Cup quarterfinal.

After arguing with a referee about the first half eclipsing the announced stoppage time, in which left-back Jordi Alba was injured, Mascherano received a red card. Despite his ejection, he remained in a coaching role, but from Section 101 of Inter Miami’s Chase Stadium.

The Apple TV broadcast showed Mascherano making a call on his cellphone and seemingly motioning directions with his other hand. Then the broadcast turned to Inter Miami assistant coach Lucas Rodriguez Pagano on the sideline, where he was holding his phone out and talking.

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At the time, fellow assistant Leandro Stillitano was leading the club.

But Mascherano said Friday that he wasn’t speaking to either of those assistants, according to USA Today, which reported that he insisted he was talking to a video analyst sitting in Chase’s upper deck.

Following the match, a Leagues Cup spokesperson told multiple outlets that Mascherano was seated in an area permitted by tournament regulations and that cellphone communications are not prohibited.

The International Football Association Board rulebook agrees with that statement. The issue is covered in the Rule 4.4 Other Equipment section of the organization’s “Laws of the Game.”

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Part of that rule states:

“The use of any form of electronic communication by team officials is permitted where it directly relates to player welfare or safety or for tactical/coaching reasons but only small, mobile, handheld equipment (e.g. microphone, headphone, earpiece, mobile phone/smartphone, smartwatch, tablet, laptop) may be used.”

Mascherano will be suspended for Inter Miami’s Leagues Cup semifinal against Orlando City on Aug. 27 because of the red card he was given for arguing in the tournament’s quarterfinal.

That might be the only punishment he receives from Wednesday’s match, though.

“I abided by the rules, and I didn’t break any rules,” Mascherano said, via USA Today. “I couldn’t be on the bench, so I wasn’t on the bench. … I could have been next to the bench, in the suite next to the owners, I could have sat there. I’m not to blame for how the stadium is set up. I left and sat in the stands upstairs. Now, because of the proximity, it was convenient for me to be there.

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“If the team needed me there, yes. And if my players and my team need me, I’ll be there. And I’ll pay the consequences I have to pay, no problem. But I will always be available for whatever my players need. And I felt that my players needed me to be there at that moment.”

Mascherano added, via USA Today: “Beyond that, I didn’t break any rules because we asked the League Cup if I could sit there and the League said, ‘Yes, yes, it’s the stands, it’s the grandstand.’ Now, a little higher up, a little lower down, that’s irrelevant.”