Barcelona send official complaint to RFEF & express ‘deepest concern’ over ‘damaging’ refereeing decisions

Barcelona have escalated their anger over Thursday’s Copa del Rey elimination at Atlético Madrid by lodging a formal protest with the Royal Spanish Football Federation, denouncing a pattern of refereeing decisions the club believes are harming the sport.

The flash-point came when a Pau Cubarsi strike that would have stood without intervention was chalked off following an eight-minute VAR review, a delay the Catalan side labels “unacceptable.” Head coach Hansi Flick branded the episode “a mess,” while midfielder Frenkie de Jong went further, calling it “a scandal.”

In a letter dispatched on Saturday 14 February to RFEF president, the president of the Technical Committee of Referees, the head of VAR and the federation’s director of legal affairs, the club catalogued four areas of concern: inconsistent disciplinary standards, contradictory handball rulings, an accumulation of significant officiating errors, and the unclear protocol for on-field monitor reviews.

The communiqué concludes with a demand that the governing body treat the grievance with “the utmost seriousness” and implement “concrete measures to prevent similar situations from occurring in the future.”

The defeat at the Metropolitano has intensified Barcelona’s frustration, with sources at the club saying they “have to fight against everything and everyone” to get fair treatment.