Frenkie de Jong discovered himself on the centre of consideration throughout Barcelona’s 2-2 draw with Actual Betis final evening.
Shortly after coming onto the pitch, he was concerned in a controversial second, giving freely a penalty. This incident was adopted by a crimson card for Barcelona’s supervisor, Hansi Flick.
As is customary after matches, the Spanish Soccer Federation (RFEF) launched the audio of the VAR assessment, offering perception into the decision-making course of between the sector referee, Muniz Ruiz, and the VAR referee, Pizarro Gomez.
What was mentioned?
Within the audio, the VAR referee will be heard asking the sector referee to assessment the state of affairs, suggesting the opportunity of a penalty.
“I like to recommend you please assessment to be able to assess a doable penalty motion,” he mentioned.
Ruiz admitted that he had initially solely observed the battle between the gamers in real-time however hadn’t noticed the boot contact.
🗣 AUDIO REVISIÓN VAR
🗓 Jornada 16 | Primera División | Temp. 2024/25
⚽ @RealBetis 🆚 @FCBarcelona_es | 63’#ArbitrajeRFEF | @CTARFEF pic.twitter.com/b1R7FjgWMl
— RFEF (@rfef) December 7, 2024
He acknowledged that the problem alone was not sufficient to warrant a penalty however confirmed that the boot contact was important.
“The battle up entrance isn’t sufficient, that’s what I’ve valued. Under there’s a contact of the boot, certainly.”
After reviewing the incident, the officers decided {that a} penalty must be awarded. They then shifted their focus as to if De Jong ought to have been proven a crimson card for his actions.
Nonetheless, the sector referee rapidly clarified that he didn’t see the deal with as a “reckless motion” and thus solely issued a yellow card to the Barcelona midfielder.
Hansi Flick’s response
One level of competition raised by Hansi Flick after the match was the size of time taken to assessment the state of affairs. The delay was as a result of referee additionally reviewing a separate incident.
This concerned the yellow card proven to Sergi Altimira for a foul on Lamine Yamal, with the referee deciding that the foul, a seize on Yamal, mustn’t have occurred.
Consequently, the referee opted to take away the yellow card for Altimira after concluding that it was linked to the sooner penalty choice.
The incident left Barcelona’s coach annoyed with the choices, and the drawn match will definitely result in additional debates over the dealing with of the important thing moments.