FC Barcelona sends letter criticising "repeated blatant refereeing errors, many detrimental to the Club"

FC Barcelona suffered a battering against Atlético de Madrid in Copa del Rey last week, 4-0, that included a big referee controversy when VAR ruled out a goal by Barcelona, which would have meant a 4-1 in the 52nd minute, after seven minutes of deliberation... because the semi-automatic offside technologies failed.

The decision has angered the club, and three days later FC Barcelona sent a letter to the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and the technical referee committee (CTA), in which they "expressed their deep concern regarding the repeated application of the rules", citing "lack of consistency in disciplinary criteria, contradictory criteria in handball incidents and accumulation of significant errors".

"FC Barcelona denounces the existence of disparate decisions regarding identical actions, especially concerning disciplinary sanctions", said the club, a movement not different from the continued criticism towards referees by Real Madrid one year ago. "This disparity creates a sense of double standards, incompatible with the principles of fairness, equality, and legal certainty that should govern the competition."

The club specifically talked about the "inconsistency in the interpretation of handballs in the penalty area, even in matches officiated by the same referees", and feel that "FC Barcelona points to the repeated blatant refereeing errors throughout the season, many of them decisive and detrimental to the Club."

They finally ask for an urgent review of the criteria applied in order to "guarantee uniformity in refereeing decisions, equal treatment of all clubs and the credibility and prestige of the competitions".

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