As per GOAL, UEFA has ruled that István Kovács, a Romanian referee, will not officiate any more European matches for the remainder of the season.
The organization considered his inability to promptly dismiss Barcelona’s defender Pau Cubarsí during the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals against Atlético Madrid to be a major mistake.
During the 44th minute, Kovács only issued a yellow card for a foul committed on Giuliano Simeone, but after VAR interference, it was upgraded to a red card, resulting in Barcelona playing with ten players in a match they ultimately lost with a score of 0-2.
Reports suggest that UEFA is likely to ignore other incidents involving Atlético’s Marc Pubill for a handball in the penalty area after a goal kick and goalkeeper Juan Musso, yet they regarded the earlier mishandling of the Cubarsí incident as much more serious.
This ruling removes the seasoned referee from the upcoming phases of the Champions League and other European competitions, emphasizing UEFA’s firm approach towards significant refereeing errors that can alter key games.