A significant controversy erupted during the last edition of the Champions League when Barcelona was eliminated in the quarter-finals, losing 2-3 on aggregate to Atletico Madrid. A decision made by referee Istvan Kovacs led to a regulatory change announced by UEFA on Thursday night.
Just 24 hours later, Kovacs encountered a similar situation on the pitch. Assigned to officiate a match in the Saudi Pro League between Al Khaleej and Al Hilal, which ended 1-5, he faced an unusual incident in the second half.
This time, on Friday night, Kovacs did not overlook a handball in the penalty area and decisively awarded a penalty kick. What unfolded in the 64th minute was pivotal to the match.
Incident with Koulibaly Leads to Penalty Call
During a six-meter restart for Al Hilal, and with the score at 5-1, Bounou passed the ball to Kalidou Koulibaly, who stopped it with his arms to restart play from another corner of the small box.
Following the recent directive from UEFA’s refereeing chief, Roberto Rosetti, regarding changes to how such situations should be judged, Kovacs acted promptly to award a penalty kick.
This decision surprised the Senegalese defender and his teammates, who were unaware of the new regulation change.
Despite this, Moroccan goalkeeper Musa Barrow successfully guessed the direction of the penalty, and Al Khaleej missed the opportunity awarded by Kovacs.
In contrast, during the earlier Champions League quarter-finals of the 2025-2026 season, Kovacs failed to award a penalty in a critical instance within Atletico’s penalty area, leading to outrage from Barcelona and a formal protest submitted to UEFA.
Barcelona Protests Over Missed Penalty in Atletico Match
In the 54th minute of the first leg, as Barcelona trailed 0-1 and were down a player following Kovacs’s red card to Pau Cubarsi, goalkeeper Juan Musso prepared for a goal kick and passed the ball to Marc Pubill, who was situated inside the 16-meter box.
Convinced that Musso was merely passing the ball for him to restart play, the central defender intentionally stopped it with his hand, positioned it, and prepared to execute the kick.
Barcelona players immediately called for a penalty, but Kovacs judged that Musso had not restarted play, allowing the kick to be repeated. VAR, officiated by Christian Dingert, also did not intervene, leaving Barcelona without a penalty and seeking official clarifications from Nyon.
UEFA deemed the protest inadmissible, and while the governing body did not rule Kovacs’s decision as correct, it dismissed the appeal on the grounds that such a protest could not change the outcome of a match due to a refereeing error.
