{
  "id": 8868052,
  "title": "CTA admits Atletico midfielder Kang-In Lee should have been sent off against Real Madrid",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/21/cta-admits-atletico-midfielder-kang-in-lee-should-have-been-sent-off",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-09-21T07:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Sports",
    "slug": "yahoo-sports",
    "url": "https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/cta-admits-atletico-midfielder-kang-070000576.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) has admitted that Atletico Madrid midfielder Kang-In Lee should have been sent off during their derby victory against Real Madrid. The incident involved Lee's challenge on Federico Valverde, which left the Real Madrid player injured. Initially, the challenge was not punished by referee Ortiz Arias and was not sent to VAR for review. However, the CTA now considers the challenge serious enough to warrant a red card.\n\nMoreover, the committee has also acknowledged that Dean Huijsen's foul on Giuliano Simeone warranted a red card. Huijsen grabbed Simeone without attempting to play the ball, leading to a penalty conceded by the Real Madrid defender. Ortiz Arias had initially awarded the spot-kick but did not initially dismiss Huijsen. VAR later intervened, resulting in a red card being shown to Huijsen.\n\nThe situation involving Cristian Romero is more complex. Initially, Ortiz Arias appeared to identify the wrong player during an incident involving Jude Bellingham, awarding a foul and a yellow card before VAR established that Romero had actually committed the foul. Despite this, Ortiz Arias did not initially consider dismissing Romero. The CTA has accepted this decision, describing the incident as confusing.\n\nOverall, the CTA's admission of the referee's errors has added to the controversy surrounding the Madrid derby. Ortiz Arias, who was selected for the match due to his strong recent performances, now faces scrutiny as three major incidents required close examination. Two of these incidents involved VAR intervention, while the challenge on Valverde went unpunished by the referee, a fact that Real Madrid did not overlook in their post-match comments.",
  "summary": "The fallout from Atletico Madrid’s dramatic derby victory over Real Madrid has taken another turn, with the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) acknowledging that one of the match’s biggest inci...",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}