Atlético Madrid erupts over VAR, demands explanation from referees

Discontent at Atlético Madrid over the officiating during their La Liga match against Barcelona at the Metropolitano is growing by the hour. The club and the team are furious about the incident where Barcelona's Gerard Martín was not sent off. Referee Busquets Ferrer initially showed a red card to the champions' player, but after a VAR intervention, he changed his decision to a yellow card.

As a result, Atlético has formally requested an explanation from the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) regarding the different criteria applied in identical situations. Just a few rounds ago, in a similar incident during the Betis vs. Rayo Vallecano match, the committee ruled that Betis player Valentín Gómez should have been sent off for a challenge on Andrei Rațiu. The action was similar to the one between Martín and Thiago Almada.

Atlético stated that "it's impossible to compete when they explain one set of rules to you but apply another." The club added: "They tell players, coaches, and directors that VAR will only be used for clear and obvious errors, and then they apply it in a completely different way."

From the Metropolitano, they also expressed the opinion that "the VAR referees are harming their colleagues on the pitch; we wish they would defend them as we do." The club believes that for the second consecutive round, they have suffered from clear errors due to the application of different criteria, coincidentally in matches against Real Madrid and Barcelona.

The Madrid club does not understand how Busquets Ferrer could describe Gerard Martín's action as "reckless" yet still downgrade the red card to a yellow. They fully support the words of their coach, Diego Simeone, who stated that he hopes the Technical Committee of Referees will provide a clear explanation for what happened in that situation.