Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea explains key VAR decisions after Levante v Atletico Madrid

Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea made La Liga history on Saturday by publicly explaining several major refereeing decisions from Levante’s match against Atletico Madrid at the Ciutat de Valencia.

Appearing on Movistar, the referee detailed why two Atletico Madrid goals were disallowed, why Levante manager Luis Castro was shown a yellow card and why a member of the home side’s equipment staff was sent off.

The broadcast formed part of a joint initiative involving La Liga, the Royal Spanish Football Federation and the referees’ union. Under the initiative, referees were allowed for the first time to explain their decisions in key controversial incidents during two matches on the day’s programme.

De Burgos Bengoetxea began by expressing his solidarity with the victims of the Toledo accident and their families before addressing Atletico Madrid’s first disallowed goal.

He said the officials had initially allowed play to continue, but VAR later identified an offside offence and instructed them to overturn the decision.

“There was an offside which we allowed to continue on the pitch. From the VAR room they told us that the system showed an offside, and we simply had to correct the decision and change the goal to offside,” he said.

The referee said the second goal was disallowed as a result of a decision made on the pitch, with the video review subsequently confirming the officials had been correct.

“In the second incident, we made the decision on the field to disallow the goal, and the system confirms that we were right,” he added.

De Burgos Bengoetxea also explained the disciplinary action taken during the game. Luis Castro was booked for going beyond acceptable limits in his comments, while a Levante equipment staff member was dismissed after repeated complaints about his conduct.

“We received several complaints, the last of them concerning inappropriate behaviour, and we made the decision to send him off in accordance with the regulations,” the referee said.

He was also asked about an incident involving Levante player Ivan Romero, who complained that he had been struck by an opponent’s elbow.

De Burgos Bengoetxea said the contact had taken place behind Romero and that VAR had reviewed the footage. The incident was judged to be a normal part of play, with no offence considered to have occurred and no further refereeing action required.