Madrid protests, Barça complaint rejected

UEFA has announced today that the vice-chairman of the UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body, as a judge sitting alone, has rejected both the protests lodged by Real Madrid CF and the complaint made by FC Barcelona following the UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg match between the two clubs last Wednesday.

The protests lodged by Real Madrid CF, against the behaviour of the FC Barcelona players during the match and against the red card shown to Kepler De Lima Ferreira (Pepe), are rejected. In the case of the behaviour of the FC Barcelona players, it was deemed that there was no common strategy to provoke the Real Madrid CF player, while in the case of Pepe, the referee's factual decision is upheld. As a result, the player Pepe is suspended for the FC Barcelona-Real Madrid CF match on 3 May 2011.

The complaint lodged by FC Barcelona, against the comments made by the Real Madrid CF coach José Mourinho to the press, was also rejected by the vice-chairman of the Control and Disciplinary Body. In this instance, FC Barcelona have been referred to the proceedings already brought against José Mourinho, which will be heard by the Control and Disciplinary Body on Friday 6 May. No new disciplinary proceedings are therefore to be opened against José Mourinho on the basis of the complaint lodged by FC Barcelona.

Both the above decisions are open to appeal within three days of the dispatch of the contested decisions.