Real Sociedad demand urgent answers over three VAR errors in Basque derby

Real Sociedad have issued a formal statement criticising the refereeing decisions in their 2-1 defeat by Athletic Bilbao in the Basque derby, demanding immediate explanations for the handling of the penalty awarded against Jon Mikel Aramburu and the subsequent VAR review.

The club rejected the suggestion that the incident was simply the result of a technical malfunction. Real Sociedad said the decision followed a sequence of three successive errors which irreversibly changed the course of the match, adding that what happened at San Mames went beyond an ordinary refereeing mistake.

The first error, according to the statement, was the referee’s initial assessment of the incident. Real Sociedad said a penalty was awarded without the official recognising that their player had touched the ball before making contact with the Athletic Bilbao forward.

The club argued that this was an incorrect decision which had a direct influence on the outcome and development of the game.

Real Sociedad said the second error involved a serious procedural failure inside the VAR room. The officials reviewing the footage did not identify the earlier touch by the Real Sociedad player, despite the available images showing that it had occurred before the contact with the opposing attacker.

The club also raised concerns over the technology used to synchronise the ball’s data with the video review. It said the Technical Committee of Referees had acknowledged responsibility for a delay of between one and two frames in the signal transmitted by the connected ball.

That delay, equivalent to 20 to 40 milliseconds, allegedly confused the officials reviewing the incident and misled them as they reached their decision.

Real Sociedad called on the Technical Committee of Referees to provide clear and immediate answers on three specific issues. The first concerns the verification protocol used inside the VAR room. The second is which body is responsible for calibrating the chip inside the ball and ensuring that it operates correctly. The third relates to the monitoring systems in place to detect such failures before refereeing decisions are made.

The club said an apology for an error lasting a fraction of a second would not be enough to resolve the matter. Real Sociedad insisted that the technological protocols used in refereeing must be reviewed and repaired, arguing that the recent incident had placed their reliability in doubt.

The defeat came in a match between two Basque rivals, with Athletic Bilbao winning 2-1 at San Mames. Real Sociedad’s statement focused specifically on the penalty decision involving Aramburu and the failures it believes occurred during the VAR process.