Barca complain to UEFA

Barcelona have confirmed that they have lodged an official complaint to UEFA over the performance of the match officialS in midweek.

Referee Wolfgang Stark and his assistants initially drew the ire of Barca on Tuesday evening during their Champions League quarter-final first leg against Paris Saint-Germain for the award of Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s goal.

Replays showed that the Swedish striker was a couple of yards offside.

Barcelona were also incensed at having to defend a corner with nine men on the pitch, after Javier Mascherano and Jordi Alba were forced to leave the pitch following treatment received for a collision.

This is believed to be as per the rule dictating that players go off the field after needing to be seen by the physio, but Barca suggest otherwise and this is where their complaint focuses.

“The club has sent an institutional letter to UEFA regarding a series of events that occurred on the field of play, for it is our objective understanding that the referee clearly failed to apply the laws of the game,” confirmed club spokesman Toni Freixa to reporters this week.

“When two players from the same team are lying on the ground, the referee has to stop the game, and that didn’t happen.

“Not only that, but he made them leave the field, which goes against the rules. This is a serious enough thing to happen in a Champions League match for us to write to UEFA and make sure it never happens again.

“We are fully aware that referees can make mistakes and we don’t feel unfairly treated, but what calls our attention is that in a high level competition, a referee didn’t know the rules.

“We are not judging the refereeing, but a basic principle. A judge has to know the law. We hope this never happens again.

“Barca do not complain about referees. Not a bit or a lot. We are denouncing an objective error of not applying the rules.”

Tags Freixa Paris Saint-Germain PSG Stark
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