FC Barcelona filed a formal complaint with the Royal Spanish Football Federation on Friday over what the club described as unacceptable refereeing failures during their 4-0 Copa del Rey semifinal first-leg defeat to Atletico Madrid at the Metropolitano on February 12. The complaint centers on an eight-minute VAR review that resulted in a Pau Cubarsi goal being disallowed for offside in the 51st minute, when the score stood at 4-0, and on the failure to send off Atletico midfielder Giuliano Simeone for a studs-up tackle on Alejandro Balde that was punished with only a yellow card. Former Barcelona president Joan Laporta and acting president Rafa Yuste both publicly denounced the officiating, with Yuste calling the VAR delay a disgrace and vowing that the club would demand explanations.
The disallowed goal triggered outrage after the Comite Tecnico de Arbitros acknowledged that the Semi-Automated Offside Technology system suffered a technical malfunction during the review. The CTA explained in an official statement that the system generated a failure in the modeling of players through the skeletons upon detecting a situation of high player density in the crowded penalty area. Unable to recalibrate the automated system, VAR officials resorted to manually drawing offside lines, a process that took between six and eight minutes while players stood idle on the pitch and television viewers received no replays. The CTA maintained that the final offside ruling was correct, determining that Cubarsi had part of his body beyond the last line of defense at the moment Robert Lewandowski touched the ball.
Laporta, who resigned as president on February 9 to stand for re-election and was speaking as a candidate, published a scathing statement on social media calling the disallowed goal a recurring pattern of injustice against Barcelona. He wrote that the wrongly disallowed goal to Cubarsi reminded him of a similarly incorrect decision against Lamine Yamal at Anoeta, adding that nothing is innocent. Laporta declared that Barcelona must fight against everything and everyone, and called on the club's supporters to rally behind the players ahead of the return leg at Spotify Camp Nou on March 3. Acting president Yuste reinforced this combative stance, telling reporters after the match that it is unacceptable that eight minutes have to pass before a decision is made and that the club would not let this stand.
Several prominent former Spanish referees publicly condemned the VAR handling of the incident. Iturralde Gonzalez, a veteran former La Liga official, called the situation shameful and reportable, arguing that identifying Lewandowski's position should not have required such an extended review. Xavier Estrada Fernandez, another former referee, went further, calling it the greatest blunder since VAR existed and dismissing the RFEF's explanation of a technical malfunction as pure lies and mere excuses. COPE analyst Ruben Martin described the manually drawn offside lines as unacceptable and the seven-minute delay as a disgrace, noting that the decision was made by VAR rather than the semi-automated system, which he called highly unusual.
Barcelona players were equally vocal in their criticism after the match. Captain Frenkie de Jong said he had seen the image afterward and could clearly see there was no offside, adding that if the image shown was real and not generated by AI, then it is a scandal because the decision was very clear. Defender Eric Garcia called the offside ruling a disgrace and lamented that these decisions lately always go against Barcelona, while also insisting that Giuliano Simeone's tackle on Balde was a very clear red card. Coach Hansi Flick described Spanish refereeing as a mess, stating that when he saw the situation it was clearly not offside and criticizing the complete lack of communication from VAR officials to explain their ruling.
Beyond the disallowed goal, Barcelona's complaint also addressed the inconsistent disciplinary approach by referee Juan Martinez Munuera. The club pointed to Giuliano Simeone's studs-up challenge on Balde in the early second half, which multiple refereeing analysts including Pedro Martin of COPE deemed worthy of a direct red card for serious foul play, yet was only punished with a yellow. In contrast, Eric Garcia's initial yellow card in the 84th minute for bringing down Alex Baena was upgraded to a red after VAR review for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity. Adding to the catalogue of errors, Martinez Munuera also made a mistake on the official score sheet, incorrectly crediting Giuliano Simeone as the scorer of the third goal instead of Ademola Lookman.
Despite the formal complaint, legal analysts noted that RFEF regulations contain no mechanism to overturn match results or award disallowed goals after full time, meaning Barcelona's action is primarily aimed at demanding accountability and procedural improvements rather than seeking to alter the scoreline. The first-leg defeat leaves Hansi Flick's side needing to overturn a four-goal deficit in the return leg at Camp Nou on March 3. Eric Garcia will be suspended for that match following his red card. The controversy has reignited a broader debate in Spanish football about the reliability of VAR technology and the transparency of the refereeing establishment, with calls growing for the CTA to implement clearer communication protocols and independent oversight of the semi-automated offside system.
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