Barcelona president Joan Laporta has called on the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) to replay Sunday’s derby against Real Madrid if there is conclusive evidence that Lamine Yamal’s “ghost” goal has been met.
After Yamal’s shot was disallowed by VAR in Barcelona’s 3-2 loss to Real Madrid, coach Xavi Hernandez criticised La Liga’s refereeing, which does not use goal-line technology.
Yamal’s shot in the 28th minute was reviewed by VAR for several minutes as it appeared to cross the line before Real goalkeeper Andrey Lunin cleared. The goal was disallowed and the VAR awarded Barça a corner.
Laporta opened on Monday: “As president of FC Barcelona, I would like to express my dissatisfaction with the irrational use of a tool like VAR in one of the most important matches on the world calendar.
“As you know, I’ve never been a big proponent of VAR because I think that, when applied, it takes away from the spontaneity of football. But what I am in favour of is that, now that we have it, we should use it to avoid mistakes that could lead to unfair decisions.
Goals from Vinicius Jr and Lucas Vazquez helped Real equalise twice after Andreas Christensen and Fermin Lopez gave Barca the lead.
Jude Bellingham scored the decisive goal in the 91st minute, securing Real’s fourth straight win over the Catalans. Second-placed Barca are 11 points behind, a deficit that will be difficult to overcome with six games remaining.
Laporta continued: “In this appearance that I make, I not only bring to light the dissatisfaction of the Barça fans with the control of the VAR [Sunday], but I also highlight that, although it is a tool that has been used for a long time, it continues to generate confusion with contradictory criteria depending on the parties and the teams.
“Barcelona would also like to highlight the strength of our festival and the fact that we are successful and followed by millions of fans around the world, but we are exempt from complaints when the use of VAR harms our product.
Laporta added for a long time: “We understand the difficulties that officials face, but that’s why there are teams (such as VAR) that deserve to help make the festival fairer and not the other way around. Yesterday there were several doubts, incidents, but among all of them, there is one that is very important and can replace the final result of the game.
“I’m referring to Lamine’s ‘phantom goal’. As a club we need to be sure of what happened, and it is because of this explanation that FCB will make a prompt request to the Technical Refereeing Committee of the Spanish national football federation to obtain a complete collection of photographs and audio of the incident.
“If, after analysing this documentation, the club understands that a mistake has been made in the review of the incident, we will take all necessary measures to reverse the situation, without ruling out, of course, any mandatory legal action.
“If it is proven that it was a legal goal, we will go ahead and we do not rule out asking for the game to be replayed, as happened in some other match in Europe due to a VAR error. Finally, I would like to point out that, despite focusing on this incident, we also disagree with other incidents that occurred during the attack and which may have been investigated with the help of VAR. “
The match Laporta is referring to took place in January, when he announced that a Belgian Pro League match between Anderlecht and Genk would be replayed in its entirety due to an error by the video assistant referee (VAR).
The disciplinary council of the country’s professional football is in favour of filing an appeal with Genk for misapplication of the gambling legislation.
Laporta hopes the ruling, considered the first of its kind in European football, sets a precedent after an initial ruling by the refereeing system that there would be no replay challenged on appeal by Genk, whose request for another adjustment was confirmed by the senior. group.
LaLiga is the only five sensible leagues in Europe that does not use goal-line generation. After Barcelona fans criticised La Liga for its lack of generation, frontman Javier Tebas responded on X by sharing several reports of incidents further down where the generation found out it was wrong to say “no comment”.
Barcelona, eliminated from the Champions League of the week, will host Valencia in La Liga on April 29.
Xavi told reporters when asked about the debatable occasions at the Santiago Bernabeu: “We can’t do them. They are arbitration actions. I think the team is doing very well, we competed very well, we were bigger than Real on our own. “We got all 3 numbers each and every way.
“My feeling is one of maximum injustice. Naturally, everyone has noticed,” he added. “I feel like the game wasn’t fair. “