Ronald Koeman tells off Gerard Pique for Referee comments

The Spanish Football Federation has confirmed that they will be investigating the comments made by Gerard Pique about impartial refereeing. Should the Spanish centre-back be found guilty of breaching the organization’s policies, it could result in a long ban. This will be quite harmful for the club’s progress as they are already facing an injury crisis and the last thing they want is for another player to be taken off from their squad, especially one who’s return they were waiting for anxiously.

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Gerard Pique made some pretty bold comments about the referees of La Liga earlier this month. He said in an interview with Post United, that most of the referees who officiate matches in the league are from Madrid and thus must support the club subconsciously. He said,

"“The other day a former referee said that 85 percent of the referees are from Madrid, How are they not going to whistle in favour of Madrid? Even unconsciously, how are they not going to give more for one side than the other?”Source Goal"

Ronald Koeman already distanced himself and the club from Pique’s comments saying that they do not represent the club’s opinions. Koeman even praised the referees before but also admitted that he cannot speak about the previous seasons as he was not there to experience it.

Koeman send Gerard Pique a warning

Now in a recent pre-match press conference, the dutch manager once again had to address the issue due to the fact that an investigation had been launched. He said in the press conference that it will be a problem if something materializes out of the investigation but he also expressed that Pique has been a veteran at the club and should be allowed to express himself without the fear of breaching rules. He added,

"“But you have to take care because, [even] with little [pushback], they can make you a problem. If you have to criticize, do so with respect so they can’t do anything to you.”"

Barcelona have a tough game upcoming against Paris Saint-Germain but Koeman does not want to focus on that and rather spoke about the upcoming game against Alaves. He said that the club is taking one game at a time and when the match against PSG is on the horizon, he will talk about it.

Should Pique have refrained from commenting on Spanish referees?