Barcelona have filed a formal complaint with UEFA regarding Wolfgang Stark’s refereeing in Tuesday’s 2-2 Champions League draw with Paris Saint-Germain.
The criticism concerns two incidents - Javier Mascherano and Jordi Alba’s collision in the second half (pictured) and Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s goal that leveled the score at 1-1 in the 79th minute.
The Blaugrana’s main argument concerns the collision whereby Stark refused to stop the game. Barcelona’s spokesman, Toni Freixa, explained the basis for the complaint: “The club has written to Uefa due to a series of incidents on the pitch in the understanding that objectively speaking it was evident that the referee did not apply the rules of the game.”
“When two players from the same team are on the floor the referee should stop the match, which did not happen. What’s more he then obliged them to leave the pitch, in contravention of the rules.
“It is an incident that is sufficiently serious in a competition like the Champions League to bring to Uefa’s attention so that it does not happen again.”
Freixa is wrong. When two players from the same team are on the floor the referee has the option to stop the match but only if the run of play permits doing so. In other words, it’s discretionary. How Freixa & Co. are unaware of this boggles the mind as it’s a basic premise that coaches around the globe drill into the minds of every three year old who steps onto a pitch - ‘Play to the whistle!’
Which is exactly what PSG did. They were in the box, had an opportunity to score, took that opportunity and (notably) failed to convert. Stark made the correct decision.
Plus, imagine the repercussions if football adopted Barcelona’s rule that the whistle must blow every time a player goes to ground? Every couple of minutes the referee would have to blow the play dead, especially in Barcelona matches given how often they dramatically flop to the turf.
Such a rule would be a disaster. Injury time would stretch from three minutes to 15 minutes. Physios would be running around the pitch like monkeys in a banana flophouse. Fans would grow bored and more likely to reach into their pocket for projectiles to throw at John Terry.
Point being - Barcelona need to suck it up. They filed a similarly petty complaint last March after Milan held them to a scoreless draw in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final. The basis for that petition - the state of the San Siro pitch wasn’t up to par. Two draws. Two frivolous complaints. Looks an awful lot like sour grapes.
It’s time the world’s best football club mans up, takes a page out of Lionel Messi’s book and stops complaining - both on the field and off.