Antonio Rudiger faces a possible multi-game suspension after appearing to throw ice at the referee and shouting aggressively while being held back by Real Madrid teammates late in the Copa del Rey final against Barcelona on Saturday. Referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoechea also handed out red cards to Jude Bellingham and Lucas Vázquez for protesting in the waning moments of Barcelona’s 3-2 win.
De Burgos wrote in his match report that Rudiger “threw an object from the technical area that didn’t reach me. After being shown the red card, he had to be held back by various members of the coaching staff, while he showed an aggressive attitude.” The referee’s report also details how Vazquez, who had been substituted off in the 55th minute, was dismissed “for protesting one of our decisions, entering several metres onto the playing surface, and making gestures of disconformity.” Bellingham, who completed the full 120 minutes, was sent off after the match. “He came towards us with an aggressive attitude, having to be held back by his teammates,” De Burgos Bengoechea’s report added.
The day before the final De Burgos denounced a campaign to discredit him by Real Madrid’s official club television. The referee for the Copa del Rey final got emotional on Friday when he described the verbal abuse his child suffers because of criticism his profession receives from soccer’s top clubs - in his case led by Real Madrid. Ricardo de Burgos Bengoechea expressed his anguish to reporters after Madrid’s club-owned television station aired a video supposedly documenting his bias against the club. “To see your son come from school crying because some kids have said his dad is a crook is very hard to take,” De Burgos said as he choked up. “What I do is tell my son that his father is honorable. I make mistakes, like any athlete, but I am honorable,” he said. “I want my son to be proud of his father and of the refereeing profession. … Nobody has the right to submit my colleagues to what they are dealing with.”
De Burgos spoke along with video assistant referee Pablo González Fuertes at the now customary pre-Copa del Rey press conference for the referee crew, a rare moment for referees to be questioned by the press. González Fuertes supported his fellow referee and launched a warning that Spain’s referees were going to take unspecified actions to curtail attacks on their honor. “Do not have the least doubt that we are going to have to start taking more serious measures,” González Fuertes said, without giving details. He added that he was worried that the verbal hate referees receive from players and as well on social media could have real-world consequences. “One day we will have a real problem, and we will all hold our heads and condemn what happened, but who will be held responsible for the situation?”
Source: AP
