Overview
- The Referees’ Technical Committee, which issued its ruling Tuesday, said video review should not have intervened and that the correct decision was a red card for Barcelona’s Gerard Martín.
- In Saturday’s match, referee Mateu Busquets Ferrer showed Martín a straight red for a studs-up challenge on Atlético’s Thiago Almada before VAR official Mario Melero López advised a review that led to a yellow instead.
- Atlético filed a formal complaint, shared side-by-side clips of a similar tackle, and CEO Miguel Ángel Gil Marín said he felt “ashamed” after hearing the federation’s released audio from the VAR booth.
- The committee referenced its own prior guidance on a comparable Valentín Gómez challenge in Betis–Rayo, reiterating that touching the ball first does not cancel a red when the contact endangers an opponent.
- The ruling sharpens the focus on how VAR should be used to correct only clear errors and could push Spanish officials to spell out firmer protocols and publish more transparent explanations after contentious reviews.