Laporta returns to the fray: “The Getafe refereeing was a shame”

01/20/2025

Updated at 8:31 p.m.

Indignation is the word that best fits when defining the state of mind of Joan Laportawho this Monday morning went to testify at the City of Justice of Barcelona for an alleged crime of fraud in which he is being investigated. The president of Barcelona did not want to comment on the judicial process but he did refer to last Saturday’s match in Getafe, where he was not happy and felt harmed by the refereeing of Pablo González Fuertes on the pitch and by José Hernández Maeso from the VAR. Laporta, who will travel with the team to Lisbon, where this Tuesday they play against Benfica in a match in the group stage of the Champions League, was very forceful in his response.

«The refereeing in Getafe was a shame. That the penalty was not awarded to Koundé is a scandal. And I think you should repeat it more times because it is a scandal about the penalty to Koundé», said the president as he left the court. He simply added a laconic “exactly” when he was reminded that a similar play on Rüdiger was punished as a penalty.

The president did not want to assess anything further in the face of the insistent questions from the journalists who had gathered at the doors of the City of Justice. The future of the team in the League or questions about the judicial process were left unanswered. Nor did he appreciate the racist shouts that Alejandro Balde received at the Coliseum and that the footballer himself denounced at the end of the match. The action against Koundé focused all the leader’s attention. It must be remembered that this play occurred in the last minutes of the game, when Koundé He came in to finish off an aerial ball and wase clearly held by a defender rival preventing the dangerous play. Neither the referee whistled anything nor did the VAR warn him or call him to go see the play. In the end the match ended with a 1-1 draw that clearly hurts the Catalan team.