http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/s...-madrid's-ramos-handed-five-match-ban?cc=5739 Here was the incident. I am not that interested in debating the merits of the sending off. I, personally, think Ramos knew what he was doing. What is interesting to me is the resulting ban. A five match for abusive language at the professional level is something that I have not heard of or seen that often. It is especially surprising when it is for something, that in my opinion, is not that bad. I can not recall a player in MLS or EPL or in a major international competition receiving a ban of that length for abusive language. I have a couple of questions here in regards to the suspension/report. Can anyone recall a player in the MLS or in the EPL or in the Champions League receiving that length of a ban for abusive language? Also, a question for you guys on here that are involved or have been involved in MLS or know people that are involved in MLS. Do referees put everything a player says to them after a sending off for a non abusive language red card? For example, if a player says ¨you are a piece of shit¨ after being sent off for SFP, do MLS refs put that in their report? I know, at the amateur/youth level, I do. I think most of us at the lower levels do put everything a player does after receiving the red card, but is it the same at MLS? Also, while we are on the topic of abusive language, what would a player have to say in an MLS game to get a straight red card for abusive language? I have been to some MLS games and have heard some awful stuff said by players and coaches towards the refs. Are the referees told what to tolerate and what not to or is up to each referees tolerance level? Reason, I ask is I can only recall a player being directly sent off for abusive language once in the last couple of seasons and that was when Toledo sent off a Rapids player after the match. Also, what I find interesting is the referees report was made public and leaked to the press. Granted, the only leagues I really follow are the EPL, MLS, Serie A, La Liga, and UEFA competitions, but I can not recall the referee report being made public and what the player specifically said to him. Can anyone else think of a situation where a referee˙s report was leaked like that? To be honest, what he said was not that bad. I have heard worse and I am sure that the referee has heard worse. I guess like last season on giving a yellow for every handling offense, the Spanish FA has decided to crack down on insults being thrown at the referee and they have decided to come down hard. It is also surprising that they have come down hard on Ramos, a Real Madrid player. Usually when it comes to Real and Barca players the Spanish FA is intimidated to make an example out of them.
It's about time IMO. The EPL and MLS refs take too much verbal abuse directed right at them. Grumbling and venting is one thing, but direct insulting remarks with foul language should not be tolerated. The problem is that it trickles down to lower levels, and can result in attrition of referees. PH
It wasn't leaked. For the past 10 seasons match reports for Spanish games have been readily available on the Spanish Federation's website. And they are posted fairly rapidly, often within an hour following the final whistle. All types of abusive language is reported whether it's uttered by players or coaches. How to locate match reports for domestic games in Spain: http://www.rfef.es/ Along the top of page place cursor over "Competiciones nacionales" and in the drop down box click "Fútbol" On the left side of the page click "Actas" The next page will list the latest round of La Liga fixtures. On the right side of each match click "previo" for a match preview (if the game has yet to start) or "Ver Ficha" to see the match report (if the game has been played). On the top you can use the drop down boxes to select other domestic competitions along with season and round desired. (This last part with the drop down boxes works best with Internet Explorer as it's never worked for me using Firefox.) Each match report consists of three pages so from the initial page you'll need to scroll down and click "Acta del Partido" for page two, then scroll down again and click "Siquiente >>" for page three. Then scroll down one last time and locate "INCIDENCIAS" to find the referee's report on bookings and sendings off. Note that everything is in Spanish, as one would expect. Here's a direct link to the match report for the Real Madrid-Celta Vigo Copa tie. http://actas.rfef.es/actas/RFEF_CmpPartido?cod_primaria=1000144&CodActa=18923 Direct link to page three of match report for said encounter where you'll find the Sergio Ramos bit towards the bottom. http://actas.rfef.es/actas/RFEF_CmpActa2?cod_primaria=1000144&CodActa=18923
Fantastic stuff. Thank you for the links. As for the insult its all a matter of context. Calling someone shameless on a vacuum may not be a big deal but he was implying that the action was a premeditated act against him/the club. I also think that the 5 match ban was due to the fact that it isn't his first red recently.