Ferocious Laporta storms into dressing room and has to fear sanctions


Sunday, October 16, 2022 at 7:57 PM• Mart van Mourik

Joan Laporta has nothing good to say about the arbitration in el Classico. On Sunday, Real Madrid proved much more efficient than Barcelona and although the visitors could still hope for a draw in the final phase, Rodrygo put an end to all Catalan hopes in the 91st minute thanks to a used penalty kick: 3-1. The white-hot Barcelona president could not understand that referee José María Sánchez awarded a penalty and went to the dressing room afterwards to make up his mind.

The outburst of anger towards the arbitration stems from two situations in the match. More than fifteen minutes before the end, Robert Lewandowski was apparently pushed to the ground in the box at a 2-0 score, but Sánchez refused to award a penalty and to consult the video images. When the referee awarded a penalty to Real Madrid in the 91st minute – on the advice of a video referee – after Eric García’s foul on Rodrygo, Laporta became furious.

The Barça president immediately left the stands to talk to Sánchez. Among other Mundo Deportivo and ASH have seen the notes of the guide who complained about Laporta’s unwelcome visit. “As soon as the match was over, Joan Laporta entered the locker room to repeatedly ask for explanations about several moments in the match. He was then requested to leave the referee’s changing room,” Sanchez wrote on the scoresheet.

In a statement, Barcelona let Mundo Deportivo know that Laporta remained “respectful.” The latter would only have asked for an explanation, because he did not understand why the arbiter sometimes went to the screen and other times not. ASH says Laporta must take sanctions into account. “It’s still unclear what the ramifications will be for the president, but it looks like he won’t get away with the unwanted dressing room visit.”