European football governing body UEFA has rejected a complaint filed by Barcelona over what the club described as “grave lack of VAR intervention” during the first leg of their Champions League match against Atletico Madrid last week.

In a statement on Tuesday, the organisation said its UEFA Control Ethics and Disciplinary Body reviewed the protest submitted by Barcelona regarding multiple officiating decisions in the game and officially reached the conclusion to dismiss the complaint. 

“Following Champions League quarter-final first leg played on Wednesday 8 April 2026 between FC Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid, Barcelona filed a protest relating to a referee decision — on 13 April 2026,  the UEFA Control Ethics and Disciplinary Body declared the protest to be inadmissible,” UEFA said.

Barcelona players and officials were furious after the 2-0 loss to Atletico Madrid over multiple calls that they believed Referee Istvan Kovacs and Video Assistant Referee (VAR) got wrong, including a 54th minute handball by defender Marc Pubill inside the visitors’ box. 

Pubill, who had received a yellow card earlier in the game, stopped the ball with his hand after goalkeeper Juan Musso had appeared to restart play with a goal-kick. The players fiercely protested the incident but VAR didn’t intervene. 

“The club considers that the refereeing did not adhere to the current law, directly influencing how the game progressed and the result,” Barcelona said in a statement announcing it filed the complaint on Thursday.