In matchday four of La Liga, Real Madrid lost to Real Betis 0-1, and several refereeing decisions during the match sparked controversy. Referee analyst Iturralde González from AS and Spanish radio station SER analyzed the controversial decisions from Real Betis's home match against Real Madrid this round, applying current rules and new refereeing standards established by Spain's Technical Refereeing Committee (CTA) for this season.

Real Betis — Real Madrid

In the 53rd minute, Arda Güler narrowly escaped a second yellow card and dismissal. Güler received his first yellow card in first-half stoppage time for a foul on Pablo Fornals. Just eight minutes into the second half, he committed another foul challenging Manu Ruiz. This second offense could have resulted in a second yellow card and red card, leading to his direct dismissal.

Iturralde explained on the Carrusel program: "For the first foul, Alejandro Hernández showed a yellow card because the referee judged it disrupted a dangerous attack, not simply because the foul itself was particularly egregious. Alejandro Hernández was actually restraining himself from issuing cards throughout the match... The second incident, compared to the first, more deserved a yellow card, but that doesn't mean I think the first yellow card shouldn't have been shown. Referees are now being given the impression that a foul warranting a second yellow must be much more serious than the first, but this has no basis in the Laws of the Game."

Several controversial incidents occurred in quick succession late in the match. In the 86th minute, Espí scored, but VAR disallowed the goal because a Real player was in an offside position when the ball was played during the attacking sequence.

Iturralde explained: "This season, thanks to embedded sensors and automatic offside detection systems in the balls, human error in refereeing has been significantly reduced. Now, except for a few special scenarios where the system cannot distinguish between defending and attacking players, all decisions are made by machines. From the replay, it's clear this was genuinely offside."

In the 93rd minute, De Osa fouled Vinicius Jr., resulting in a penalty. Iturralde stated plainly: "This was an undisputed penalty."

Mbappé then took the penalty, and the ball was saved by Rui Silva. Real Madrid players demanded a retake, claiming that the Real Betis goalkeeper encroached into the penalty area prematurely.

Iturralde explained his reasoning for why he believes the penalty should have been retaken: "The rule's wording is insufficiently precise and easily leads to confusion. Similar disputes over goalkeeper positioning occurred at the World Cup, and ultimately the International Football Association Board (IFAB) was forced to clarify that the rule had been misapplied at that time. This rule is more of a recommendation from Spain's Technical Refereeing Committee (CTA), and its wording is very vague. The rule text addresses player positioning at the restart, stating that if a player is airborne, the projection of where his feet will land should be used to determine his position.

This very statement leaves room for referee interpretation. The CTA's interpretation is that as long as one foot of the goalkeeper is on the ground outside the penalty area, even if his body and other foot are completely inside it, this is not considered encroachment. This is the CTA's logic for interpreting the rule. However, my understanding is that if a player is airborne and, even if one foot is outside the penalty area, his entire body has already entered it, then the projection of his other foot should be used to determine encroachment.

It's quite likely that on Tuesday the CTA will state that a penalty retake is unnecessary. But if you read the original rule, you'll find considerable ambiguity, which depends entirely on the interpreter's subjective judgment..."

Переведено ИИ.

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