VAR referee s remarks caused heated discussion: Barcelona player s goal is invalid, VAR shouts thank God

National Derby VAR referee controversial remarks have caused heated discussion

In the 35th round of La Liga national derby held on the evening of May 11, Barcelona defeated Real Madrid 4-3 at home. But a controversial dialogue about the VAR referee group after the game sparked widespread discussion.

According to the Spanish media Daily Sports, in the process of determining that Barcelona player Fermin Lopez's goal was invalid, a shocking sentence came from the VAR referee room: "Thank God (Gracias a Dios).

This scene happened in the 5th minute of stoppage time in the 90th minute of the game. At that time, Ferming received a cross from his teammate and scored a header, rewriting the score to 5-3. After listening to VAR's opinion, referee Alejandro Hernandez determined that Fermin touched the ball with his hand before the top, so the penalty was invalid.

However, the recording between the VAR referees showed that during the review, someone said "Thank God" and seemed to be grateful for the discovery of the Barcelona player's handball. This statement immediately sparked doubts - does it mean that the referee team has bias against Barcelona? Or at least lack professional qualities in language expression?

The report pointed out that such terms are obviously inappropriate, which easily reminds people of whether the referee has a tendency toward Real Madrid's position. Barcelona is considered to have reason to ask the La Liga referees committee to explain the matter.

In addition, this was not the only controversial penalty that night. Previously, Barcelona had complained that a suspected penalty was not awarded: the ball clearly hit Real Madrid defender Chu Améni's arm in the game, but the referee did not make any statement.

With this victory, Barcelona led Real Madrid in the standings by as many as 7 points, with only three rounds left before the end of the season, and the La Liga champion has almost won.

It is worth mentioning that Real Madrid lost all four matches with Barcelona this season, conceding 16 goals in total, including two direct defeats in the Spanish Super Cup and the Copa del Rey and missed the championship due to the national derby defeat.

Former La Liga whistle Iturald Gonzalez also said in an interview with Ass that he believes that Fermin's handball in that goal is not obvious and should not be blown away. "From the action, it's more like an unintentional touching the ball, and the basis for VAR intervention is worth discussing."

At present, La Liga official has not yet responded to the controversial remarks of the VAR referee, but the outside world expects to have a clear statement to maintain the fairness of the game and the professional image of the referee.