Sonia Bompastor has criticised Champions League refereeing as “not good enough” after Chelsea were eliminated by Arsenal in the quarter-finals. The Chelsea manager was shown two yellow cards following a controversial incident where Arsenal's Katie McCabe pulled Alyssa Thompson's hair, which went unpunished.
The holders Arsenal progressed despite the controversy, winning 1-0 at Stamford Bridge to secure a 4-1 aggregate victory. Sjoeke Nüsken's injury-time goal gave Chelsea hope, but it was not enough to overturn Arsenal's first-leg advantage.
Bompastor questioned why VAR did not review the hair pull, which occurred on the break after Nüsken's goal. “I had one of my players whose hair was pulled,” she said. “Why the VAR is not checking that situation? Why are they not going back to that, just checking and having a clear call on that?”
The Chelsea boss also criticised UEFA for expressing satisfaction with their referee selection process following last week's controversial decisions. “If they are happy with what happened in the first leg and tonight, that's not good enough,” she said. “They shouldn't be happy about that.”
Bompastor dismissed McCabe's claim that the hair pull was unintentional, stating: “I think the intention is clear for me: she tried to grab the hair. And I think for that reason, it's clearly a red card.” Arsenal manager Renée Slegers acknowledged the team must earn their place in the semi-finals, where they will face Lyon or Wolfsburg.
