The English international’s behaviour on the Bernabéu pitch this Saturday could have had very serious consequences.
Not a day in La Liga goes by without the refereeing causing controversy when Real Madrid are on the pitch. Just yesterday, many situations caused a stir in Spain, such as the penalty awarded for a foul on Endrick, when the Brazilian was clearly outside the area.
Among the other controversies of the evening, these three yellow cards addressed to the Real players for having protested the decisions of the man with the whistle. Mbappé, Vinicius and Bellingham were indeed all entitled to reprimands from the central referee, each time accompanied by a yellow card, for having each expressed their discontent.
In the case of Jude Bellingham, he was booked after protesting and criticizing Munuera Montero for not reporting a foul allegedly committed by an Espanyol player. Immediately after receiving the card, the cameras captured the images of the Madrid player, addressing the referee in English, with a simple and clear “You’re a piece of shit”. Translation for the non-bilingual, “You’re a piece of shit”.
In the referees’ sights
It must be said that the altercations between the refereeing body and Jude Bellingham are not new. As soon as he arrived in Spain, the Englishman found himself in the sights of the Spanish referees. We remember for example that Gil Manzano had sent off the Englishman at Mestalla at the very end of the match, for having protested, in his native language once again (“It’s a fucking goal”), which earned him being sidelined for 2 matches.
This time, however, the Madrid 5 will escape any sanction despite this frankly very limited little sentence. Luckily for the player, the referee yesterday did not note in his report the insult suffered, because he certainly did not hear it, so no follow-up will take place.
CTA (Referees Technical Commission) complaints are in fact usually filed when the claims appear in a statement on the pitch or at a press conference. If it is something that happens in the middle of a match and is not heard by the referee, it ends there and no action is taken.
Jude Bellingham will therefore not be sanctioned for this insult which could have earned him between 2 or 3 games of suspension, but there is no doubt that he will be closely monitored by the referees during the next matches. Referees who obviously heard through the media about this little insult which slipped through the cracks, this time…
