Gerard Pique has apologised for speaking out of turn as Barcelona were beaten by Athletic Bilbao in the Supercopa de Espana, but denies insulting the assistant.
Pique was shown a straight red card in the second half of the 1-1 draw, Barca losing to the Basques 5-1 on aggregate after a 4-0 defeat at San Mames.
It’s reported that Pique insulted the assistant’s mother in obscene terms but the defender used his personal Twitter account to deny that was the case.
“I want to apologise for the attitude with which I protested to the assistant, because it was inappropriate,” he began, according to Marca.
“It was a very tense match with a lot at stake. However, at no time did I insult him personally.”
Barca have also prepared an appeal that disputes the order of events claimed by referee Carlos Velasco Carballo.
AS meanwhile report Pique is looking at a four-match ban for the red card with the RFEF’s Competition Committee to make a ruling later on Wednesday.
Pique’s suspension will start immediately and take in League games, not only Supercopa games, as was the case when Jose Mourinho was sanctioned for an incident with Tito Vilanova.
AS note that while the rules have since changed, if Mourinho was to return to La Liga, he would have to serve the outstanding ban, but only in the Supercopa.
Pique’s outburst came after the assistant failed to flag Aritz Aduriz offside during an Athletic attack.
