Girona are reportedly frustrated with the disciplinary committee at the RFEF, feeling that they have been harshly treated in the case of David Lopez. Their veteran defender made comments about referee Miguel Angel Ortiz Arias in October, and has only just received a resolution – a four-game ban.
Lopez noted during a half-time flash interview that it’s hard to work with someone like Ortiz Arias, who ‘disrespects you’, ‘insults you’ and is ‘arrogant’, causing a stir. The Referees Committee later released the audio from the match – an edited form – claiming that this was not true. This week the case was resolved by the Competition Committee, and Lopez was hit with a four-game ban.
However he isn’t the only one to have criticised Ortiz Arias. Just days later, Sevilla star Sergio Ramos was asked about Ortiz Arias, and made almost the exact same comments.
“I don’t want to make assessments, but referees make mistakes too. And so do we, but what happens when we make mistakes is that we get a yellow or a red, when the referees make mistakes, they should also see the consequences, as it used to happen with them getting dropped for a game.”
🔴⚪️ Sergio Ramos, sobre Ortiz Arias y su expulsión en liga
😡 "El otro día el árbitro es una persona distante, habla con una prepotencia fuera de lugar"
👉🏽 "Que haya respeto, es lo único que también nosotros (los jugadores) pedimos"
📻 #PartidazoCOPEpic.twitter.com/zSHJUogQ5h
— El Partidazo de COPE (@partidazocope) November 28, 2023
“We’re here to help though, in terms of the case the other day, he’s a standoffish person, who if you ask certain players, [Ortiz Arias] speaks with a certain arrogance that is out of order for a referee. And obviously as players, we don’t like that.”
“Referees can make mistakes, football is complicated and they might not see things. Above all, what we ask for is respect, which is what we show to the referees too.”
Ramos escaped any action, despite the fact that the only difference between their comments was that the Sevillano did not say ‘he insults you’. Certainly it’s a confusing criteria if that one nuance is worth four games difference in sanction. Equally with dissent, players are left bamboozled by some of the things that they are sent off for, when other players say worse on camera without any punishment.
