Barcelona have announced that they have sent an official complaint to the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) over refereeing decisions in the wake of their 4-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey.
The Catalans couldn’t have endured a more frustrating outing at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano, as they not only suffered their worst defeat since Hansi Flick took charge, but also had a couple of decisions go against them.
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Around the 50th minute mark, Atletico Madrid winger Giuliano Simeone escaped a red card following a studs-up challenge on Barcelona left-back Alejandro Balde.
Just a few minutes later, Pau Cubarsi’s goal was ruled out for offside following an eight-minute VAR check – a decision Hansi Flick called a ‘mess’ and Frenkie de Jong branded a ‘scandal’. Capping off a miserable outing for Barcelona, Eric Garcia was handed his marching orders in the 85th minute for a challenge on Alex Baena.
Triggered by the controversial decisions in Thursday’s game, Barcelona released a statement condemning inconsistencies in refereeing decisions. The club highlighted five major issues for which it is requesting an urgent review of the criteria.
It read:
“FC Barcelona reports that it sent a formal letter this Saturday, February 14th, to the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), addressed to its President, the President of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA), the head of VAR and the Director of Legal Advice, in which the Club expresses its deep concern about the repeated homogeneous criteria.”
Barca also demanded the full publication of all VAR audio recordings regardless of whether there was a review on the pitch or not as a measure of transparency.
The statement concluded:
“FC Barcelona demands that its requests be analyzed with the utmost seriousness and that concrete measures be taken to prevent similar situations from recurring in the future.”
RFEF has yet to provide a response at the time of filing this report.
“Did you see Giuliano’s tackle?” – Eric Garcia questions red card decision after Barcelona’s defeat to Atletico
Eric Garcia was left confused after he was sent off for a similar tackle that saw Giuliano Simeone receive a yellow card. The Spanish defender was initially shown a yellow card after bringing down Baena, but it was upgraded to red after the incident was reviewed on the pitchside monitor.
“Did you see Giuliano’s tackle? And you think it was a red card? These decisions have been going against us lately,” Garcia told the media post-match. “I was unlucky enough to slip and hit him. We know it’s going to be tough and they’re not going to make it easy for us. Playing at home with our fans, we can win.”
As per reports, VAR official Pablo Gonzalez Fuertes alerted referee Juan Martinez Munuera to the denial of a goal-scoring opportunity in Garcia’s challenge, with the defender being the last man.
Edited by Ezekiel Olamide
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