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Wenger has slammed VAR for a wrong penalty decision in Barcelona's Champions League loss to Inter Milan.
Barcelona's agonising 3-4 defeat to Inter Milan in the UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg was compounded by contentious refereeing decisions, sparking criticism from former Arsenal manager and FIFA's director of world football development, Arsene Wenger.
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The match was already a tense affair, but the controversy surrounding several refereeing calls, particularly a penalty awarded to Inter Milan, left Barcelona players and fans deeply frustrated.
The pivotal moment that drew criticism was the penalty given to Inter's Lautaro Martinez following a VAR review.
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Many observers and experts questioned the validity of the spot-kick as Arsene Wenger was particularly vocal in his criticism of the VAR intervention, arguing that the system is being misapplied.
"You can’t referee in slow motion. VAR isn’t meant for this kind of situation, and it can’t continue like this," Wenger told SPORT.
He continued, "At normal speed, it was a great tackle. The defender won the ball, and that should have been the end of it. However, when slow-motion replays are used, things change, but this is not how football should be."
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The former Arsenal boss further elaborated on the incident, pointing out that Cubarsi was the first to the ball.
He said, "Look at what Lautaro Martinez is doing. He knows that in this play he is not going to score and he is leaning more and more towards Cubarsi. He is clearly looking for the penalty, and for me, the referee has not made the right decision.
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"Let people look at who is the first to play the ball. It’s Cubarsi, and the rest is done by Lautaro. For me, it is clearly not a penalty and you cannot whistle an action like that, which live already seemed clear to me that there was no foul," he concluded.
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Barcelona's narrow defeat was a bitter blow, and the ensuing debate over refereeing and VAR has reignited calls for fairer officiating.
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