Los 40 USA
NewslettersSign in to commentAPP
spainSPAINchileCHILEcolombiaCOLOMBIAusaUSAmexicoMEXICOlatin usaLATIN USAamericaAMERICA

Florentino leaps onto the anti-refereeing bandwagon

Update:

Real Madrid’s supporters have got a bee in their bonnet about the refereeing decisions in the team’s past few outings. You could sense it in the return leg of the Spanish Supercup - the Bernabéu was extremely mistrusting of the refereeing. Despite winning the first leg and posting a great result in the return, the night left a certain acrid taste at times for the protests at the ref. That was in the wake of the five-match ban which Cristiano was hit with by the Competitions Committee. Even Zidane, the happy, smiling face of Madrid (yesterday he remarked that he is not interested in a league without Barça) went as far as saying: “Something's amiss here”. Florentino, who is always getting himself in a lather about what the opinion polls say, took note and jumped on the bandwagon.

Full screen

Madrid's argument against Cristiano's five-match ban

The trigger for all of this was Cristiano’s suspension, who madridismo feel has been dealt a disservice because he didn’t dive - unlike Luis Suárez who has come out of this smelling of roses. Having said that, out of the five games in the ban, four corresponded to shoving the ref; but then there is the argument that, had the ref got the decision right in the first place, he wouldn’t have been shoved... The final straw was when the judge decided not to quash the part of the ban corresponding to the second booking (one game), as a cover-up for the ref. All of that is as relevant as the shove itself. We have seen thousands of players who have been unjustly sent off but have not reacted by shoving the ref. Of course, a few years back Messi pushed Undiano but that was left out of the ref’s match notes...

Madrid's supporters are starting to think that Villar and Sánchez Arminio look favourably on Barça. I certainly got that impression myself during the Laporta years, but not now; nevertheless many do see it that way. But the general air of skepticism coupled with Cristiano’s five-match ban has created a feeling of rancor among madridistas and Florentino has latched on to it. I’m reminded of a famous Gandhi quote There go my people, I must follow them, for I am their leader. Just like Florentino playing to the crowd in his interview with Manu Carreño on El Larguero last week.