Why did the referee reverse his decision to send off Gerard Martin?
Audio recordings from the VAR room have revealed the behind-the-scenes story of the decision to overturn the sending-off of Barcelona player Gerard Martín during the match against Atlético Madrid, which ended in a 2-1 victory for the Blaugrana.
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The Spanish newspaper ‘AS’ confirmed that the match saw two controversial incidents in which VAR intervened. The first concerned the overturning of Gerard Martin’s immediate sending-off following his challenge on Almada in the 48th minute, where the VAR room summoned referee Busquets Ferrer to review the incident on screen, ultimately leading him to reverse his decision and settle for a yellow card for the young player.
Footage released by the Spanish Football Federation showed the VAR room alerting referee Ferrer to assess a “possible withdrawal of the red card” for Martín’s challenge.
In its analysis of the play, the video room stated: “In my opinion, this is a play in which the Barcelona player plays the ball naturally; it is a normal dynamic of play, where he played the ball and then made contact with the Atlético player naturally.”
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After reviewing the footage, referee Busquets Ferrer agreed with the assessment, saying: “Well, the Barcelona player has control of the ball, plays it and then steps on the opponent; it is a natural dynamic,” before confirming the cancellation of the red card and showing Martin a yellow card.
The second incident saw the sending-off of Atlético Madrid’s Nico González, who had initially received a second yellow card for a challenge on Lamine Yamal in first-half stoppage time, but the VAR called the referee over again, and the latter decided to rescind the second yellow card and show a straight red in its place.
The VAR official told Ferrer: “I recommend a potential red card for denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity,” which the referee endorsed after reviewing the footage, saying: “The point of contact was clearly outside the penalty area, and the foul is clear; yes, he was preparing to shoot towards goal.”
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The VAR room continued its analysis of the incident, explaining: “In my opinion, the attacker has control of the ball at all times and is heading towards the goal; the foul prevented a clear goal-scoring opportunity as no defender was closing in,” to which Ferrer replied: “I completely agree; there are no defenders around him and the next move was to shoot. I will cancel the second yellow
and show a straight red.” Read also: Tension behind the scenes… Leaks reveal division in the Barcelona dressing room
