Barça slam "outrageous" FEF stance over Valencia scenes
After the Spanish federation's disciplinary committee accused players of "over-exaggeration" to a bottle throw, Barça have retorted.
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Barcelona have hit back in a war of words with the Spanish Football Federation (FEF)’s disciplinary committee after the scenes that unfolded at the end of the side’s 3-2 victory over Valencia at Mestalla. After the FEF described the reaction by several Barça players to a plastic water bottle hurled at them from the stands as they celebrated Leo Messi’s last-gasp winner from the spot as “not setting an example” and “making fools of themselves” as several of the visitors went down clutching their faces, Barcelona warned the governing body over what the club termed an “outrageous” view of the incident, which “transfers the blame for clearly condemnable behaviour onto the victims.”
"Hostile atmosphere"
Barcelona also noted that the bottle-throw was not an isolated incident and the a “hostile atmosphere” in and around the ground had been “displayed on multiple occasions during and after the match, in terms of offensive language, discrediting of the referee by members and media of Valencia CF and the throwing of objects.”
Barcelona’s team bus was greeted with insults, the most common being “Alcácer, canalla, fuera de Mestalla”, or “Alcácer, bastard, keep out of Mestalla”, directed towards the former Valencia captain who moved to Camp Nou in the summer. After Messi’s goal, Barcelona players appeared to trade insults with a section of Valencia fans, which led to the bottle being thrown as well as other objects including lighters and a screw.
FEF should "analyse each and every goal celebration"
Barcelona challenged the disciplinary committee to from now on “analyse and pass judgment on the way that teams celebrate each and every one of their goals,” adding that the committee “should limit itself to analysing incidents and applying the rules in force, avoiding any assessment that as well as being unjust is incompatible with the principles that should regulate the conduct of this body.”