The Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has admitted that referee Mateo Busquets Ferrer erred in overturning the red card of "Blaugrana" defender Gerard Martin in the match between Atletico Madrid and Barcelona (1:2) in the 30th round of La Liga.
Idman.Biz reports that in the 46th minute, after touching the ball, the Catalan player hit Thiago Almada's calf area. The referee showed Martin a red card, but after reviewing the incident on the monitor, following the advice of the video assistant referees, he changed it to a yellow card.
"Regardless of who touched the ball first, it was a serious foul. The correct disciplinary measure should have been a red card.
VAR should not have intervened, as it was the correct decision the referee made on the field. The VAR's recommendation to review the incident resulted in an incorrect correction to an action that was correctly assessed on the field. The referee should have stood by his initial decision," the CTA said.