Former referees, pundits lambast non-penalty call against Barcelona during Getafe draw | OneFootball

FC Barcelona failed to win their first La Liga game of 2025 as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Getafe on Saturday at Coliseum Alfonso Perez.

But the match was not without its fair share of controversies, as Alejandro Balde was targeted by racist slurs while Barça president Joan Laporta was also hit with offensive chants by opposition fans.

There was controversy on the field as well, as Barcelona were denied a clear penalty in the 81st minute when Christantus Uche dragged Jules Kounde down inside the box.

The foul, which involved Uche grabbing Kounde with both arms, was blatant, yet referee Gonzalez Fuertes chose to ignore it, and the VAR did not alert him to the clear mistake.

Experts say it was a penalty

Former referee turned pundit, Iturralde Gonzalez, speaking on SER, expressed his belief that it was indeed a penalty: “For me, it is a penalty because he grabs him.”

Pedro Martin, the referee commentator for COPE, also agreed, stating: “There is a grab, and it is a fairly clear penalty.”

On Esport 3, former referee Xavier Estrada Fernandez was even more decisive: “It is an obvious penalty, and I do not understand why González Fuertes did not signal it, nor why the VAR did not intervene.”

Fernandez further clarified that the question of whether Kounde would have reached the ball did not change the fact that it was a penalty.

Kounde had a penalty shout denied. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)

Some experts have speculated that the reason for the lack of VAR intervention may lie in the nature of the foul.

Iturralde explained: “I disagree, but this is the type of grab that the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) does not want the VAR to intervene on.”

Beyond the opinions of refereeing experts, commentators from both radio and television agreed that it was a clear penalty.

Paco Gonzalez, from COPE, was candid: “I would love to hear the audio of what they said to Gonzalez Fuertes about the incident between Balde and the Getafe player. I would pay money to hear it. He must have asked what happened there, as I did not see it.”

Aside from the hostile atmosphere and the racist abuse directed at Balde, another troubling aspect of the Getafe-Barça match is the fact that the official responsible for evaluating Gonzalez Fuertes’ performance is Yolanda Parga, who is married to Megia Davila, an employee of Real Madrid.

Xavier Estrada Fernandez described this as “a blatant conflict of interest,” a sentiment echoed by referee analyst Joan Fabregas, who labelled it “an outrageous conflict of interest and a complete farce.”

Source: SPORT