Barça was outraged because it was not awarded a penalty in the match against Getafe on Saturday due to a foul on Jules Koundé.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta has reignited his battle against LaLiga referees in Spain following the decision not to award a penalty to the Catalans for a foul on Jules Koundé in Saturday's draw against Getafe, citing Real Madrid being awarded a penalty for a similar offense.
Match official Pablo González Fuertes' chose to overlook Christantus Uche's mishandling of Koundé at a corner, despite the Nigerian clearly grabbing the defender in the penalty area to prevent him from reaching the ball. The fact that VAR also chose to ignore the incident seems to have been the final straw for Laporta, who is now lashing out.
Koundé non-punishment a “shame” and “scandal”
“The performance in the match against Getafe was a shame,” Laporta began, before specifically addressing the incident between Uche and Koundé: “It is a scandal that the penalty for Koundé was not imposed.”
The Barça president also pointed out that “a similar punishment was imposed on (Real Madrid defender Antonio) Rüdiger” and urged the media to “continue playing the images.”
Laporta was thought to be referring to a similar incident in Madrid's home match against Getafe on December 1, when Los Blancos were awarded a penalty after Rudiger was pulled back by Allan Nyom.
However, Laporta refused to comment on whether Barcelona could still win LaLiga as Real Madrid are now seven points ahead of them.
Joan Laporta: inciting hatred towards referees?
Laporta made these serious allegations outside the City of Justice in Barcelona, where he had testified in court in a fraud case unrelated to his role at the club.
The Barca chief's controversial comments could have consequences and could be assessed by the Spanish Football Federation's Anti-Violence Committee for inciting hatred towards referees.
Original article written by Javier Miguel, translated with the help of AI and edited by Roddy Cons.
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