Real Sociedad challenge VAR process after disputed Basque derby penalty

Real Sociedad have demanded immediate answers from Spain’s Technical Committee of Referees after claiming three successive errors influenced the outcome of their 2-1 Basque derby defeat by Athletic Bilbao.

The club’s formal statement focused on the penalty awarded against defender Jon Mikel Aramburu and the subsequent review of the incident by the video assistant referee (VAR).

Real Sociedad rejected the suggestion that the decision could be dismissed as a technical malfunction. They said the incident at San Mames represented a sequence of three errors which irreversibly altered the course of the match and went beyond what should be regarded as a normal refereeing mistake.

The club’s first complaint concerned the on-field referee’s assessment of the challenge. Real Sociedad said the official awarded a penalty without recognising that Aramburu had touched the ball before making contact with the Athletic Bilbao forward.

They described that decision as incorrect and said it had a direct effect on the match.

The second issue raised by Real Sociedad involved the VAR review itself. The club said there had been a serious procedural failure in the video operation because those reviewing the footage did not identify Aramburu’s earlier touch, despite images showing that the ball had been played before the contact with the opposing attacker.

Real Sociedad also pointed to an issue involving the synchronisation of the connected ball used to support the review process.

According to the club, the Technical Committee of Referees had accepted responsibility for a delay of between one and two frames in the signal transmitted by the ball. That amounted to 20 to 40 milliseconds, Real Sociedad said, and created confusion for the officials examining the incident.

The club argued that the delay misled those responsible for reaching the decision and contributed to the penalty being awarded.

Real Sociedad called for clear and immediate explanations on three specific matters. They want details of the verification protocol used inside the VAR room, clarification over which body is responsible for calibrating the chip inside the ball and ensuring it functions correctly, and information about the monitoring procedures intended to identify such failures before refereeing decisions are made.

The club said an apology for an error lasting only a fraction of a second would not be sufficient to resolve the matter.

Instead, Real Sociedad called for a review and repair of the technological protocols used in refereeing, saying the incident had placed confidence in those systems under scrutiny.