Deco 'slams' VAR and semi-automatic offside after the 'robbery' at Anoeta

Deco, FC Barcelona's sporting director, spoke to 'Mundo Deportivo' one day after the controversial defeat against Real Sociedad. In that match, the Catalans saw a goal disallowed for Robert Lewandowski by a very controversial VAR image, so the Portuguese, after making it clear that the defeat did not come from that action, has asked for explanations on the operation of the semi-automatic offside.

"I think that the VAR, and it is not because of this match, has not yet fixed the problems that it was supposed to fix"

"Some things have improved, but in others we still have the interpretation of a person. Technology has not yet been able to be ahead of a human decision. We are still having controversial decisions like the one at Anoeta, which is surely not the correct one. I don't understand, but if it is semi-automatic it is not automatic, someone has to press the button," said Deco.

The executive continued with his harsh attack on the VAR by stating that "we are like with a car, we don't know if it is automatic, if it is hybrid... There is something that they would have to explain to us. Why is it semi-automatic? I am lost. I still don't know if the boots were yellow, black... We don't want to go there because we don't want to go with excuses."

However, for the Barça sporting director "there is a question: what happened? Where is the error, if there is an error? If not, it doesn't matter, let them explain it to us but they have to explain something because we are a bit lost in what the semi-automatic is, if there is influence from the VAR, if the referee can't really do anything...".

Is Barça going to ask for an explanation?

Asked if Barça will ask LaLiga for an explanation, Deco said: "This is not going to fix what happened in the game. We don't know what would have happened. Maybe it was 0-1 and the way Real were playing they scored 2-1 or we scored 2-2. The truth is that it was a goal that was disallowed and they said it incorrectly. But from here on, football must evolve, otherwise we are lost."

"If it is a semi-automatic issue that in the end is useless, then we go back to the other system. Those in charge have to tell us something. We are not saying this because Barça has been harmed, but to improve. If it is a mistake, we have to find a solution, explain why they were wrong and what can happen"

"The VAR had to make the decisions clearer and make football easier for us, even for those who are watching at home to understand it and have it explained to them. There have already been many developments and we have benefited, so to speak, from the semi-automatic in several offsides," he added.

Finally, the director concluded his argument by saying that "we are not going to get into this but they have to explain it to us. I am not speaking as Barça's sporting director but as a football spectator and I would like to better understand why the decisions were made and if it is semi-automatic, what risk there is of it not being offside. They have to explain something to us."