The VAR audio behind Barcelona midfielder’s penalty incident against Real Betis | OneFootball

Frenkie de Jong found himself at the centre of attention during Barcelona’s 2-2 draw with Real Betis last night.

Shortly after coming onto the pitch, he was involved in a controversial moment, giving away a penalty. This incident was followed by a red card for Barcelona’s manager, Hansi Flick.

As is customary after matches, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) released the audio of the VAR review, providing insight into the decision-making process between the field referee, Muniz Ruiz, and the VAR referee, Pizarro Gomez.

What was said?

In the audio, the VAR referee can be heard asking the field referee to review the situation, suggesting the possibility of a penalty.

“I recommend you please review so that you can assess a possible penalty action,” he said.

Ruiz admitted that he had initially only noticed the struggle between the players in real-time but hadn’t observed the boot contact.

He acknowledged that the challenge alone was not enough to warrant a penalty but confirmed that the boot contact was significant.

“The struggle up front is not enough, that’s what I’ve valued. Below there is a contact of the boot, indeed.”

After reviewing the incident, the officials determined that a penalty should be awarded. They then shifted their focus to whether De Jong should have been shown a red card for his actions.

However, the field referee quickly clarified that he did not see the tackle as a “reckless action” and thus only issued a yellow card to the Barcelona midfielder.

Hansi Flick’s reaction

One point of contention raised by Hansi Flick after the match was the length of time taken to review the situation. The delay was due to the referee also reviewing a separate incident.

This involved the yellow card shown to Sergi Altimira for a foul on Lamine Yamal, with the referee deciding that the foul, a grab on Yamal, should not have occurred.

As a result, the referee opted to remove the yellow card for Altimira after concluding that it was connected to the earlier penalty decision.

The incident left Barcelona’s coach frustrated with the decisions, and the drawn match will certainly lead to further debates over the handling of the key moments.