Saudi handball call casts new light on Barcelona’s Champions League penalty dispute

A controversial handball decision involving Istvan Kovacs in the Saudi Pro League has renewed scrutiny of the Romanian referee’s failure to award Barcelona a penalty against Atletico Madrid in last season’s Champions League.

Mundo Deportivo said Kovacs, who is affiliated with UEFA, has been applying the organisation’s refereeing guidance this season with particular strictness. The newspaper said handball offences inside the penalty area should no longer be left open to interpretation or judged according to the “spirit of the game” once the ball has been put into play.

The apparent contradiction is that Kovacs was also the referee who did not award a penalty against Marc Pubill during Barcelona’s Champions League quarter-final first-leg defeat by Atletico Madrid on 8 April. Barcelona lost that match 2-0.

The incident in Saudi Arabia occurred during Al Khaleej’s match against Al Hilal in the Saudi Pro League, which Al Hilal won 5-1.

In the 64th minute, Al Hilal defender Kalidou Koulibaly stopped the ball with his hand after goalkeeper Yassine Bounou had put it into play with his foot. Kovacs awarded a penalty on this occasion, although he did not show Koulibaly a yellow card.

Musa Barrow missed the resulting spot-kick.

Mundo Deportivo said Koulibaly appeared to believe he was the player who should restart play and therefore halted the ball with his hand. The newspaper compared the moment with the earlier incident involving Pubill, who had also handled the ball after his goalkeeper, Juan Musso, had put it into play with his foot.

That decision came when Atletico were leading 1-0. Kovacs appeared to consider awarding Barcelona a penalty, taking two steps towards the area and bringing his whistle close to his mouth, but ultimately did not give the decision.

Barcelona were heavily affected by the call, as a penalty would have offered them the opportunity to equalise in a match they eventually lost 2-0.

UEFA clarification

Roberto Rosetti, UEFA’s refereeing committee chairman, addressed the issue at the Grimaldi Forum in Monte Carlo on Thursday, before the Champions League draw. He explained why incidents of this type should result in a penalty.

“We needed to close this chapter. We do not want to attack the spirit of the game. We are tired of interpretations and in this way it will end. We need to be consistent and it does not matter whether there are other players nearby or not,” Rosetti said.

After the match against Atletico, Barcelona submitted a formal complaint to UEFA. The Catalan club expressed its dissatisfaction in an official statement, describing the decision as “a refereeing performance contrary to the regulations in force, with a direct impact on the course and result of the match”.

Barcelona also said: “The decision, together with the serious failure of the video assistant referee to intervene, constitutes a grave error.”

The club called for an investigation and requested access to the referees’ communications. It also asked UEFA, if necessary, to formally acknowledge the mistakes and take appropriate measures.

UEFA did not accept Barcelona’s complaint.