Gerard Piqué has been handed a lengthy suspension by the Spanish Football Federation following an incident involving the referees. The former FC Barcelona player and current owner of FC Andorra verbally abused and threatened the refereeing crew.
FC Andorra’s 0-1 loss in La Liga 2 last Friday in front of their home crowd against Albacete has had repercussions. Not so much the defeat itself, but rather what happened off the field—which the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has now described as “minor violence against the referees.”
This was the basis for the RFEF Disciplinary Committee’s decision on Wednesday to suspend Andorra’s club boss and former Barcelona pro Gerard Piqué for six matches. The federation also imposed a two-month ban on the 39-year-old from holding any official position.
What happened? According to the referee’s match report, Piqué verbally attacked and threatened the referee and other officials both at halftime and after the final whistle during last Friday’s home loss to Albacete.
According to the report, the 2010 World Cup champion is said to have remarked, among other things: “You’d better leave with an escort so nothing happens to you” and “In another country, they’d tear you apart, but here in Andorra we’re a civilized country.” The remarks were also directed at the match observer, according to the match report.
Fine imposed on the club
In addition to Piqué, other FC Andorra officials were penalized. Furthermore, the association imposed sanctions on the club itself. The stadium’s VIP and box seating areas will be temporarily closed, and the club must pay a fine of 1,500 euros.
With four rounds remaining in the season, Andorra sits in 10th place out of 22 teams in Spain’s second division. Following the loss to Albacete, the gap to the top 6—which qualifies for the promotion round—now stands at eight points.
As a player, Piqué played a total of 535 competitive matches for Barça and 102 international matches for Spain. The World and European champion won the Spanish league nine times and the Champions League three times with Barcelona, as well as once with Manchester United.
