A trap that drives Barça crazy again

The disallowed goal by Lamine Yamal has reopened the debate about the reliability of the SAOT system, the semi-automatic offside technology that determines whether a player is in an illegal position. This tool has been implemented in La Liga since the 2024-25 season and represents a significant improvement over the previous system, in which referees manually drew the lines. The system is called semi-automatic because it requires human intervention to resolve the play. The role of the VAR official is to determine the exact moment when the striker's teammate last touches the ball. From there, the program calculates whether the position is legal. In certain situations, the referee can choose between one or two options. framesSince slow-motion images make it difficult to establish with absolute precision when the ball last touches the player's foot, referees never know in advance how the play will unfold. To expedite the process and increase reliability, the ball would need to incorporate an official chip that would allow the exact moment of the last touch to be determined. However, La Liga rejected this option for economic reasons, as well as the implementation of a clock that alerts the referee when the ball has completely crossed the goal line in cases of phantom goals. A headache for the CTA (Technical Committee of Referees).

Hawk-Eye, the company responsible for the semi-automatic offside system, provides the broadcast team with a graphic representation to justify the VAR decision. The problem is that the shortcomings of this simulation raise more questions than answers: the mannequins are all the same height, wear the same shoes, and lack features like hair, which detracts from the image's realism. One of the most surreal representations occurred during last season's Real Sociedad-Barcelona match, when Robert Lewandowski's disproportionately large foot was shown to justify an offside call. This Sunday, also at Anoeta, an image was circulated showing Lamine Yamal perfectly aligned with the defender, but a second test had to be sent out, revealing that part of his heel was slightly forward.

The current president of the Technical Committee of Referees, Fran Soto, entrusted David Fernández Borbalán with leading the technical commission and appointed Eduardo Prieto Iglesias as head of VAR, a key tool in modern football. It was decided to create a team of 16 referees specializing in this role and established a new policy: VAR would only intervene in cases of blatant error and, whenever possible, should reinforce the on-field referee's decision. As a result of these guidelines, interventions from the VAR room have decreased by nearly 50%. At the same time, another objective was also set: to align the VAR's vision with that of the main referee. In this regard, Prieto Iglesias considered that the VARman They had to convey their opinion to try to convince their fellow referee of their point of view. This significant change in communication has not been well received by many referees, as they feel they are losing authority and, despite having the final say, feel constrained.

High-profile controversies and some interference

However, the controversy has not subsided, largely because a uniform and identifiable criterion has not been established. Aside from interpretive errors—such as the penalty awarded to Araujo in Seville—there have been mistakes that have made headlines worldwide, such as the offside goal awarded in the Alavés-Atlético de Madrid match. On that occasion, González Fuertes failed to notice that Giuliano Simeone started the play in an illegal position, and Atlético's goal stood. Furthermore, during the Elche-Madrid match, an awkward situation arose when a media outlet was invited to follow the game in the VAR room. Prieto Iglesias was recorded commenting on the referee's decisions live, and once the match ended, VAR Pulido Santana had to justify his decisions on the spot. The media expressed their displeasure, and the CTA (Technical Committee of Referees) officials apologized internally, promising that a similar situation would not be repeated.