'Maybe we should have a card for referees too' - Real Mallorca forward fumes over officiating

Real Mallorca forward and cult hero Abdon Prats has called for players or clubs to be able to book referees too, after they got on the wrong side of referee Pablo Gonzalez Fuertes. Captain Antonio Raillo was sent off just on the stroke of half-time for two yellows in the space of a minute.

Raillo was booked for a challenge on Real Sociedad’s Umar Sadiq, something that rankled with the central defender. He clapped at Gonzalez Fuertes and was shown a second yellow immediately.

“We have to dedicate ourselves to what we do. The topic of the blue card is being raised, maybe they should invent one for the referees… But hey, we have to dedicate ourselves to playing. The fans are proud of us and we are proud of ourselves,” Abdon explained, as reported by Cadena SER.

On the decision itself, Abdon believed that Gonzalez Fuertes could have been more considerate with his officiating.

“We all know Antonio. He lives football to the maximum, and Mallorca too. He interprets when he sees the card that he had not touched Sadiq and you see that he has made a gesture to Pablo. There was no aggressive intention, it was not a big deal with two missing minutes to go until the break.”

Refereeing has been a subject of much controversy this season in Spain, and increasingly so off the back of the Negreira scandal and refereeing in previous seasons. There seems to be a general disconnect between referees and players that is growing wider as time goes on, and it is the fan that tends to be the injured party.