THE The Portuguese Association of Football Referees (APAF) today considered the push given on Sunday by a Racing Power official to the fourth referee to be “extremely serious” and demands an urgent response in disciplinary matters.
“APAF demands that the competent entities act with maximum speed, firmness and rigor in the investigation of all facts and in the application of exemplary disciplinary sanctions, proportionate to the seriousness of the acts and truly dissuasive of future violent behavior”, says the organization in a statement.
The situation happened in the women’s I League game between Vitória de Guimarães and Racing Power (2-1), after the main referee expelled the president of the visiting club, Mariana Duarte, who, on her way out, violently pushed the fourth referee.
“We are facing an extremely serious episode, which constitutes an intolerable attack on the physical integrity of those who are responsible for ensuring compliance with the Laws of the Game. This type of behavior has even more serious contours, when it comes from those who perform responsible functions and who should be the first to set an example of respect, discipline and fair play”, also says the referees association.
Still on Sunday, Racing Power’s management recognized its president’s push, but said that it must be “framed in the full context in which it occurred, and cannot be dissociated from the events that preceded it”.
