Barcelona president Joan Laporta launched a scathing attack on the refereeing team following the Catalan club’s Champions League exit against Atlético Madrid.
French referee Clément Turpin showed Eric García a red card in the match, which Barça won 2-1 but lost 3-2 on aggregate thanks to Ademola Lookman’s goal.
Laporta explodes with anger over the refereeing
“First of all, I want to congratulate our opponents, but what we saw yesterday in terms of refereeing, both from the on-field referee and the VAR, was a scandal by any measure,” Laporta told the media after the match.
“What they did to us is unacceptable. In the first leg, there was a clear penalty that wasn’t awarded to us, and they sent off one of our players for a challenge that only warranted a yellow card, because Giuliano wasn’t in control of the ball.”
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He continued, explaining the impact of the refereeing decisions: “These decisions have hurt us a lot. Eric Garcia wasn’t the last man because Koundé could have reached the ball. The referee initially showed a yellow card, which was the correct decision, but VAR forced him to change his mind.”
He added, “Ferran’s goal was perfectly legitimate, the penalty for Olmo was clear, and the foul on Fermín was unacceptable; they cut his face and not even showed a single card!”
He concluded, “To say that referees favor Barcelona is outrageous and shameless. They only need to look at what happened in this Champions League tie to see the truth. It’s a disgrace.”
🚨 Barcelona president Laporta announces the club will fill NEW complaint to UEFA for referee/VAR decisions.
Last week’s complaint was called “inadmissible” by UEFA.
“We can NOT accept this. We already did a complaint to UEFA and I believe we will do another one”, says Laporta. pic.twitter.com/g5Z595vUXn
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) April 15, 2026
For the second time, Barcelona files a complaint against refereeing with UEFA
Barcelona had previously filed an official complaint with UEFA against referee Istvan Kovac regarding his controversial decisions in the first leg, but the European governing body ruled in his favor, stating that Barça’s complaint was “inadmissible.”
Laporta confirmed that his club would file another complaint, this time against referee Turpin for the second leg, explaining, “It’s unacceptable to file a complaint and have it dismissed.”
He added, “What Barcelona is doing is demanding explanations for this rejection. Yuste (the interim president) told me they will file another complaint. It’s a scandal, and it’s intolerable.”
