The Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) has publicly addressed the controversies from Matchday 4 of La Liga, focusing on the red card shown to Dean Huijsen. Their conclusion was clear: the expulsion was incorrect, and VAR was right not to intervene.

In the 32nd minute, Huijsen was sent off after fouling Oyarzabal. Referee Gil Manzano judged it to be a denial of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity (DOGSO). Real Madrid, however, argued that it should have been a yellow card, as Éder Militão was close enough to cover and Huijsen was not the last defender.

The CTA explained the nuances of the situation: “This play highlights the distinction between a promising attack and an obvious goal-scoring opportunity. The decisive factor is whether a second defender is in position to challenge for the ball. If so, the sanction should be a yellow card. If, as the referee believed, the distance made intervention impossible, it qualifies as a red card.”

Marta Frías, CTA spokesperson, later confirmed that Huijsen should not have been dismissed: “This Committee believes that not all the criteria for DOGSO were met, and the appropriate sanction would have been a yellow card.” She also backed VAR’s stance, stressing that Figueroa Vázquez acted correctly: “VAR only intervenes in clear and obvious errors. This was a gray-area decision open to interpretation, so the referee’s call stood.”

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