Osasuna have reacted furiously to their disallowed goal against Atletico Madrid, with Manager Jagoba Arrasate claiming that RFEF’s aggressive suspension policy has removed their freedom of expression.
After the match, Osasuna’s Twitter account tweeted out that ‘Almost everyone saw it’, referring to the referee and VAR as the exception. The incident they refer to is a disallowed David Garcia goal, after Axel Witsel was perceived to have been fouled by Aimar Oroz, who himself was pushed by Jose Maria Gimenez.
In the aftermath, Arrasate was sent off. He explained the genesis of his sending off afterwards.
“They push Aimar, they touch him with their hands. It’s nothing, it’s not a foul. I’ll be suspended for two games, but if I say more I’ll miss four.”
“It’s the league they want, there is no freedom of expression. It is a very clear goal.”
Arrasate also complained that Diego Simeone on the Atletico bench was not refereed in the same manner. Diario AS covered his words.
“I told the referee that it was nothing, with my hands in my pocket, without fuss, they don’t like it when you have your arms out. The treatment has been different for the two benches from the beginning. We feel terribly helpless, we were better in the second half. I’m going to be out for two games without saying anything, there is a different treatment in this league.”
Certainly, it is hard to argue that Simeone was not warned in the same manner for his protests and entering the field of play on multiple occasions. The report submitted by the referee claims that Arrasate was sent off for protesting repeatedly to the fourth official.
This also comes directly after Atletico Madrid CEO Miguel Angel Gil Marin claimed that Real Madrid created an unbearable climate for referees.