CTA sides with Barça over Echeverri's foul on Koundé in Girona-Barça match

Eight days after the match, the Refereeing Committee (CTA) issued its report on the controversial actions of La Liga's 24th round.

One of the most disputable games occurred at Montilivi stadium, closing the 24th matchday. Girona caused an upset by defeating Hans-Dieter Flick's Barça team 2-1. The winning goal, 2-1, came following a very controversial moment when Jules Koundé was clearly fouled by Argentine Echeverri.

Barça strongly protested the play. Echeverri himself admitted after the match that he understood the referee should have called a foul. VAR referee Gálvez Rascón and the CTA decided to keep the decision unchanged and did not notify the stadium referee to intervene, which proved decisive.

Joan Laporta, who was no longer Barça president at that time but commented on the matter, said: “Sportingly and beyond sport, there are people who do not want us to win the league. But I am confident we will. Every great team has a dip, but some use it to try to bring us down. It will be a league with conflicts, but we have a bench magically built by Deco and led by Flick. I know the locker room mood, I have spoken to them, and they are motivated to reverse the situation.”

The CTA report explicitly discusses the incident: "A goal-causing action requires the review of the attacking phase. In an individual duel outside the area, a Girona forward stepped on a Barcelona defender’s foot just before passing the ball to a teammate who scored. VAR reviewed the entire attack but considered the action unnoticeable by the referee and validated the goal."

"Rule 12 regarding fouls and misconduct clarifies that a reckless stepping constitutes a foul and must be sanctioned. The fight for the ball does not excuse the infraction. If a player steps on an opponent with unnecessary force, it must be punished. According to the CTA, the Girona forward is excluded from the defensive action, and the foul should be called with a yellow card. VAR must intervene when there is a clear and obvious error and alert the referee to change the decision," the CTA report adds.