On a day marked by referee messes (three penalties awarded and one goal disallowed in the Celtic-R. Madrid, a non-existent penalty that also led to the second yellow of its protagonist in the Getafe-Majorca and another maximum penalty more than doubtful in the Grenade-Lightning), the Technical Referees Committee (CTA) closed ranks around its affiliates, who were also unable to express their point of view because of that strange ‘omerta‘ that submits to the Spanish referees.
It is within this framework that 50 years of a high-profile arbitration controversy. took place on a monday April 3, 1972, at the Camp Nou, in a Barca-Real Madrid that at that time did not receive the denomination of ‘classic’.
The Blaugrana won by a minimum 1-0, a goal by Asensi, whom the Merengue accused of having helped by hand before finishing. And to limbo, without the penalty that many claimed, a demolition from the Madrid player Grosso to the Barcelona player Pérez at the last minute, an action that caused the unanimous protest of the spectators and the massive launch of the disappeared so many years ago pads to the field of play.
At that time there was no such law of silence that prevented the referees from speaking. Despite this, Pelayo Serrano San Cristobala referee for the match, had no qualms about leaving his locker room at the end of 90 minutes and making himself available to the journalists present, as reported by Mundo Deportivo on page 3 of the April 5 edition.
And he did it by surprising locals and strangers with a statement: “I am dissatisfied with my performance”, assured. He did not go into more detail, but it is easy to deduce that he assumed his mistakes, whatever they were (conceding Asensi’s goal, not awarding Grosso’s penalty to Pérez…). “I won’t say anything more, that’s all”, he limited himself to adding before the questions of the journalists.
A scene unimaginable Today. Because of that much vaunted law of arbitration silence that prevents the fan from knowing if Gonzalez Strong (Celtic-Real Madrid), Mateu Lahoz (Getafe-Majorca) or Hernandez Hernandez (Granada-Rayo) also ended up “dissatisfied” with their performance in the three controversial matches of the day. It would be curious to know. If not amazing.
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Satisfaction in the CTA with the performance of González Fuertes
The Referees Technical Committee will denounce Iago Aspas
