Andorra owner Pique banned for two months after referee row

AFP | Andorra

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Former Barcelona star and current FC Andorra owner Gerard Pique was banned for two months yesterday after a heated row with a referee.

The 39-year-old businessman, who retired from playing in 2022, became embroiled in an argument after Andorra’s 1-0 defeat by Albacete last week in the second division.

Referee Alonso de Ena Wolf wrote in his report after the game that Pique, as well as other members of Andorra’s staff and playing squad, were confronting the officiating team.

The Spanish football federation’s disciplinary committee said Pique has been “suspended for two months for notorious and public acts that undermine sporting dignity and decorum, based on the facts recorded in the referee’s report”. Separately the committee also banned Pique for “six matches for acts involving minor violence toward the referees”.

Andorra president Ferran Vilaseca was issued a four-month suspension, while the sporting director Jaume Nogues, and several other members of club staff were also banned.