Sevilla stop Real from talking to referee
Reuters - Monday 24 January 2011, 18:11
MADRID - Sevilla are planning special
security measures to ensure no Real Madrid official is allowed
near the referee at half-time during Wednesday's King's Cup
semi-final first leg.
The unusual step by the cup holders is the result of a
controversial semi-final second leg between the two clubs in
Seville in February 2004.
Real official Jorge Valdano, now the club's director
general, was accused of speaking to the referee during the
interval minutes after Zinedine Zidane had been sent off.
Sevilla had scored in the first minute to make it 2-1 on
aggregate but lost Javi Navarro to a second yellow card nine
minutes into the second half, leading to accusations that
Valdano had influenced the match officials.
"This year we are going to put the necessary security
measures in place around the referee's dressing room to make
sure that no stange elements in the vicinity of the match
officials can get into their quarters," Sevilla president Jose
Maria del Nido said in a television interview on Monday.
"The president of Sevilla, as always, has faith in the
referees, is aware of their objectivity and knows that they will
blow for what they see and not what they are told to see."