Barca’s executioner thrown out of the Champions League — but he will be at the World Cup

Not even two days after the Barcelona–Atletico match, the storm in the Catalan media surrounding referee Istvan Kovacs has yet to calm down. The Romanian official, who was entrusted with the most recent Champions League final, did not exactly cover himself in glory on Wednesday at Camp Nou—to put it mildly—which is why, according to Spanish reports, he has been removed from officiating in the elite competition for the rest of the season.

VAR fury at Camp Nou: Barcelona file official complaint to UEFA after Atletico heist

Barcelona filed a complaint about his refereeing immediately after the match. However, it is said that UEFA reacted independently of the Blaugrana’s appeal and decided to sanction the Romanian. According to Mundo Deportivo, the refereeing committee of European football’s governing body did not consider Kovacs’ biggest mistake to be his failure to award a penalty for handball by Marc Pubill inside his own box—following a move initiated by goalkeeper Juan Musso with a pass to his center-back—which was the main complaint from Hansi Flick and the Catalans. Instead, they focused on his failure to immediately send off Pau Cubarsi when he brought down Giuliano Simeone near the end of the first half.

Although it was clear as day that it was a foul by the last defender, Kovacs only showed Cubarsi a yellow card at first, and only later—after being called by VAR to review the footage—changed his decision and sent the young defender off.

However, FIFA recently announced the list of referees who will officiate at the upcoming World Cup this summer, and the Romanian is among them. It seems, though, that FIFA showed some leniency toward Kovacs, and that one match was not enough to prevent him from being included on the list of referees for the upcoming World Cup.

So, it turns out that Kovacs ended his season because of a mistake against Atletico (which was later corrected), rather than against Barcelona?!