BArsenal’s board is considering the option of sending a formal complaint to UEFA regarding Istvan Kovac’s refereeing in the Champions League quarter-final first leg against Bayern Munich. The Catalan club is very angry at the decision made by the Romanian player during the match, as well as the decision of the VAR assistant. Hansi Flick spoke out and expressed his anger after the match.
The German player complained that VAR did not intervene in a play in which Poubil touched the ball with his hand inside the area. Flick believed that as the ball was already in play, the referee should have called a foul, sent off the red and white defender and awarded a penalty. Neither Kovac nor VAR intervened in the play and nothing happened.
Barcelona’s anger also stems from other events, in particular Kvarsi’s sending off. The referee saw the action and simply awarded a foul and showed the Barcelona player a yellow card. At this time, VAR intervened and the Romanian changed his decision and decided to send off Kvarsi. Barcelona don’t understand the criteria for when VAR works and when it doesn’t.
Complaints about yellow cards
Another reason for complaints is the referee’s standards when presenting cards. Barcelona understand that Koke should have been sent off after coach Kovac conceded a second yellow card. It was supposed to be in the first half before Kvarsi was sent off, but the referee deemed it inappropriate to show him a second yellow card.
It should be remembered that Barcelona had already sent a formal complaint regarding the refereeing to the RFEF after the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final, which the Blaugrana lost 4-0. In this case, the complaint focused on a play that took Munuela seven minutes to cancel out Kvarsi’s goal.
