Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo are furious about the supposed treatment of Rafael Benitez by the English football authorities.
The Newcastle United manager has been fined £60,000 by the Football Association for his comments about a referee before the recent match against Crystal Palace.
Benitez had been giving his own side after Crystal Palace attacker Wilfreid Zaha criticised officials for not protecting him enough against poor tackles from opponents.
Quoted by the BBC, the Newcastle boss said: “I am surprised because normally the FA deal with these comments. I have a lot of confidence with Andre Marriner. He has a lot of experience, even if his record with our players is not that great in terms of red cards. He is an experienced referee.
“Zaha is a good player, no doubt about that, but I think the FA have to deal with his comments. I think Andre Marriner will not have this in the back of his head. The way that he plays, normally, he will receive more tackles than other players because he likes to run at players. It won’t make any difference for our players.”
That was seen by the FA as enough to constitute such a big fine, and in Spain they just don’t get it.
Mundo Deportivo state the treatment of Benitez is ‘shocking’. They believe the Newcastle United manager gave a good example of ‘fair play’ and was subsequently punished heavily for it.
For the Spanish newspaper, in a world where ‘unsportsmanlike attitudes’ are widespread, it’s a bit much to punish someone for praise.
