Gerard Pique accuses La Liga chiefs of Real Madrid bias.
Gerard Pique has accused La Liga president Javier Tebas of favoring Real Madrid
- Tebas is an outspoken Real Madrid supporter who receives regular criticism
- Pique accused referees of failing to award penalties to Barcelona in their last two games
- Barcelona lost 2 - 1 to Atletic Bilbao in their first game of 2016 and drew at Villarreal on Sunday
Barcelona
defender Gerard Pique says his criticism of officiating in La Liga was
backed up by events in Sunday's 1-1 draw against Villarreal.
The champions drew 1 - 1 at the Estadio de la Ceramica with the Catalans having two clear penalties denied by the referee.
Gerard Pique |
After the final whistle, Pique was seen looking up
in the direction of the presidential box where La Liga president
Javier Tebas was sitting and shouting "Did you see it? You, yes, you!"
before walking down the tunnel.
However, when asked to explain the incident, Pique simply said: "The person to whom I said those words and made that gesture knows it was for them.
"I
still believe in what I say and every week makes me more in the right.
You could clearly see it, I think it's very clear what happened on the
pitch.
"You have to be careful because they
analyse everything. But let them analyse it [my comments] and waste time
on that. That's their right."
Pique was furious with the officiating during Barca's 2- 1 Copa del Rey defeat to Athletic Bilbao on Thursday.
Sunday's
referee Ignacio Iglesias Villanueva's failed to spot two handballs from
Villarreal captain Bruno Soriano inside the penalty area, one of which
looked to be deliberate with Lionel Messi poised to score.
Pique however acknowledged that Javier Mascherano
could have been penalised for a similar offence but still felt the
referee could have done better.
"There were two very clear handballs," he said. "I also saw Mascherano's, but the intention of one and the intention of the other..."
The result means that Real Madrid would move eight points clear of Barca if the leaders win their game in hand.
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