FC Barcelona appears to have achieved a partial victory with their protest to UEFA regarding the performance of referee Istvan Kovacs in their Champions League match against Atletico Madrid.
According to multiple Spanish media outlets, including Mundo Deportivo, the European governing body has decided not to assign the 41-year-old Romanian official to any further UEFA competitions this season.
Kovacs officiated the first leg of the Catalans’ quarter-final clash against Los Rojiblancos last Tuesday evening, but his decisions in several situations were highly contentious. Notably, he initially showed Barcelona defender Pau Cubarsi only a yellow card for what appeared to be a clear professional foul, only for VAR intervention to upgrade it to a straight red.
A particular incident in the 54th minute caused significant debate among Barcelona players. Atletico goalkeeper Juan Musso played a goal kick to teammate Marc Pubill, who then handled the ball before retaking the kick. Barcelona’s coach, Hansi Flick, stated, «For me, that’s a clear yellow-red card and a penalty,» and directed criticism towards German video assistant referee Christian Dingert, saying, «He must say: Watch it.» However, he did not, leading to Flick’s sarcastic remark, «Thanks to Germany.»
Did UEFA Suspend Kovacs Due to Errors in the Barcelona Game?
The Catalan club subsequently lodged a protest with UEFA, demanding, among other things, the suspension of Dingert, «access to the referees’ communications, and if necessary, official acknowledgement of the errors and the implementation of appropriate measures.»
However, the extent to which this protest is directly responsible for Kovacs’ exclusion from UEFA competitions for the remainder of the season remains unclear. It is also possible that the governing body had already planned not to assign the Romanian in further matches this season based on an internal assessment.
Former Bundesliga referee Manuel Gräfe views Kovacs’ benching as a logical consequence. In a post on X, the 52-year-old listed what he considered to be the Romanian’s errors during the match, writing, «Rightly out of UEFA until the end of the season.»