Barcelona’s appeal for Flick fails

[Saba Sports News] Recently, the Spanish Royal Football Federation’s Disciplinary Committee announced the result of La Liga club Barcelona’s appeal regarding their coach Hans-Dieter Flick, upholding the red card penalty against the Barca coach. Previously, in their appeal, Barcelona argued that the referee’s report was inconsistent with the facts and contended that the two yellow cards were based on the same action and should not warrant a second penalty. However, the Disciplinary Committee stated that Barcelona failed to provide irrefutable evidence proving “clear substantive errors” in the referee’s report. The committee emphasized that the referee’s report holds near-absolute authority and presumption of authenticity in sports disciplinary arbitration and can only be overturned under extremely exceptional circumstances. We believe this incident serves as a reminder for coaches and players to be more mindful of their conduct during matches. Although emotions can run high in intense games, it is necessary to maintain a degree of restraint to avoid penalties for unnecessary actions that could harm the team’s interests. Simultaneously, it highlights the importance of evidence in sports arbitration; teams need to provide stronger evidence to support their claims during appeals.