De Jong on Cubarsi Offside Review Image: "If It's Not AI, It's a Scandal!"

13 February 2026at09:45

Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong commented on his team's heavy 4-0 defeat to Atlético Madrid in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final, specifically addressing the decision to disallow his teammate Pau Cubarsí's goal for offside.

The decision was made by referee Juan Martínez Munuera after a review lasting over six minutes by VAR official Pablo González Fuertes, who did not have the semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) available and had to manually draw the lines to determine the Catalan defender's offside position.

De Jong stated in media remarks: "I saw the image later, and it's clearly visible that there was no offside. In the image shown on TV regarding the offside, the contact with the ball is not visible, then the image appears where Fermín shoots the ball and the defender is one meter behind Robert. I think this is very strange."

He added: "The referee cannot do much because he is also waiting; he doesn't have the image or the video, but VAR does. The image I saw, if it's not artificial intelligence – which isn't apparent at the moment – if that's the image, then it's a scandal because it's very clear."

Q&A

What did Frenkie de Jong say about Pau Cubarsí's disallowed goal?

Frenkie de Jong stated he saw an image clearly showing no offside for Pau Cubarsí's goal against Atlético Madrid, calling the VAR decision a 'scandal' if based on that specific visual evidence.

How was the offside decision for Pau Cubarsí's goal made by VAR?

VAR official Pablo González Fuertes manually drew the offside lines for Pau Cubarsí's disallowed goal during the Copa del Rey semi-final, as semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) was not available for the review.