Barcelona fume after Mourinho ban lifted
Reuters - Tuesday 10 July 2012, 17:31
Barcelona have protested angrily
against the Spanish football federation's decision to lift a
two-match ban given to Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho for
poking Barca assistant Tito Vilanova in the eye last season.
With more than a month to go until the start of the 2012/13
La Liga campaign, bad blood has already boiled up between the
bitter rivals.
Barca spokesman Toni Freixa said Mourinho's exoneration,
part of a general amnesty for sanctioned players and coaches,
damaged the image of Spanish football and would only encourage
further aggression.
The volatile Portuguese was punished after attacking
Vilanova, who has since taken over as first-team coach from Pep
Guardiola, from behind during a Super Cup match.
However, the ban was rescinded by football federation (RFEF)
president Angel Maria Villar, who traditionally exonerates some
players and coaches after sealing re-election.
He was voted in unopposed for a seventh four-year term in
February and his latest amnesty was announced at the RFEF's
general assembly in Madrid earlier on Tuesday.
Freixa said Barca president Sandro Rosell had expressed the
club's displeasure at the prospect of Mourinho's ban being
lifted at a federation board meeting on Monday.
"As we understand it, an aggression towards a coach deserves
punishment," Freixa said on Barca's website.
"This decision does not mean the aggressor is innocent, but
leads them to believe that they can continue to attack people
without fear of punishment," he added.
"It's a bad example for Spanish football that this
aggression is going unpunished."
PROTAGONIST BARCA
The federation's decision meant Vilanova's one-match ban for
reacting to the aggression was also lifted, as were bans given
to Real pair Mesut Ozil and Marcelo and Barca's David Villa, who
were all red-carded during the match.
All five are now clear to take part when La Liga champions
Real and King's Cup winners Barca meet next month in the 2012
Super Cup, the two-legged curtain-raiser to the season.
Real director Emilio Butragueno said Barca had benefited
from Villar's amnesties in the past without Real commenting or
taking any action.
"The federation president has the power to do it and we are
respectful of that," the former Real and Spain striker said on
Real's website.
"We won't mention things that are in the past, but everyone
is familiar with them and Barca was the protagonist and Madrid
never said anything," he added.
One player who did not benefit from Villar's generosity was
Granada's Dani Benitez, who was banned for three months after
throwing a plastic bottle at the referee after his side lost to
Real last season.
"I wasn't expecting to have my ban lifted," Benitez was
quoted as saying by Marca sports daily.
"In Spain the big teams have always had an advantage
compared to the small ones," he added.
"What I did was more serious than Mourinho's but Mourinho's
is also serious."
The first leg of this year's Super Cup is at Barca's Nou
Camp stadium on August 23, with the return leg at Real's Bernabeu
arena on August 30.