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Barcelona have announced that they have filed an official complaint to the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) on refereeing decisions in the wake of their 4-0 loss against Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey.
Barca takes big action
The Catalan club could not expect a more frustrating game at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano, as they not only suffered their worst loss since Hansi Flick took over the duties, but also had a couple of decisions go against them.
Around the 50th minute, Atletico Madrid winger Giuliano Simeone got away from a red card after a studs-up challenge on Barcelona left-back Alejandro Balde.
Just a few moments later, Pau Cubarsi's goal was ruled out for offside after an eight-minute VAR review - a decision Hansi Flick labeled a 'mess' and Frenkie de Jong branded a 'scandal'. Wrapping off a disappointing outing for Barcelona, Eric Garcia was given a red card in the 85th minute for a challenge on Alex Baena.
After the shocking decisions in Thursday's match, Barcelona shared a statement condemning inconsistencies in refereeing decisions. The Club noted five major problems 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 asked for the full publication of all VAR audio recordings regardless of whether there was a review on the pitch or not as standard of transparency.
The statement said:
“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.
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