Refs' Committee Admits Just One VAR Howler This Week as Castellón Get Done Over Again
The Spanish Referees' Committee (CTA) has acknowledged only one error in their weekly review, with Castellón on the receiving end of poor officiating once more.
Refs’ Committee Admits Just One VAR Howler This Week as Castellón Get Done Over Again
The Spanish football refereeing brass have owned up to just a single mistake in their latest review, with Segunda División side Castellón finding themselves on the wrong end of dodgy VAR decisions for the second time this season.
The Lone Error
The Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) has determined that VAR official Rubén Ávalos Barrera incorrectly intervened to disallow a Castellón goal in their 2-0 defeat to Cádiz. On-field referee Gorka Etayo Herrera initially awarded Lucas Alcázar’s strike before being advised to check the monitor for a supposed handball by Ousmane Camara in the build-up.
In their weekly report, the CTA stated the decision contradicted Rule 12, which only penalizes handballs when:
- A player scores directly with their arm
- The arm creates an immediate advantage leading to a goal
- The arm is in an unnatural position, making the body larger
The committee concluded that Camara’s arm was in a natural position and, since he wasn’t the goalscorer, there wasn’t the immediacy required by the rules to penalize an accidental handball before a goal. In plain English: the VAR got it wrong, and Castellón were robbed.
Second Time Unlucky
This marks the second occasion this season that the CTA has acknowledged an error by the same VAR official, Ávalos Barrera, affecting Castellón. Earlier in November, they admitted he incorrectly intervened to award Málaga a penalty at the SkyFi Castalia. Castellón managed to overcome that decision by scoring twice in stoppage time to win that match.
Other Decisions Upheld
Meanwhile, the committee stood by other controversial decisions from the weekend’s action:
- They ruled that a penalty should have been awarded for a foul on Carlos Álvarez in the Levante-Real Sociedad match
- They backed the officiating decisions made during the Betis-Getafe clash at La Cartuja
Fans across Spain continue to question the consistency of VAR implementation, with many on social media pointing out what they see as clear errors that went unacknowledged in the committee’s review.
For Castellón supporters, it’s a case of “fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice…” as they find themselves discussing refereeing decisions rather than performances once again.