Pep: Liga committees have lost respect

Posted Tuesday, March 27, 2012 by ESPN

Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola believes La Liga's ruling committees no longer command enough respect amongst the players and clubs.

Both Barcelona and title rivals Real Madrid have had altercations with match officials these past few months. Los Cules' Gerard Pique spoke out against referee Carlos Velasco Carballo for his sending-off against Sporting Gijon, while Los Blancos' Pepe has been accused of abusing referee Jose Luis Paradas Romero after his team's draw with Villarreal.

Guardiola believes both Pique and Pepe should have faced further action from La Liga's Competition Committee and Referee Technical Committee for their outbursts. He told fcbarcelona.com that the committees' silence on such issues would only lead to a further loss of respect for them.

"It’s been a while now that the committees haven’t demanded respect, we’re at a point where everything is too suspicious." Guardiola said.

"There are too many things that they’ve let pass, and in the end they haven’t made themselves respected."

The Barcelona manager hinted that the committees should have put their foot down against Pique, or similar situations would continue to arise in future.

"Gerard [Pique], with what he said, probably deserved a ban. But they don’t do it, of course, because if there’s another player that says that his team was robbed, they’d have to ban him too." Guardiola stated.

"This has been going on for a while, and they [the committee] urgently need to re-establish respect."

Guardiola will be in the dugout for Barcelona when they play AC Milan in their Champions League quarter-finals clash this Wednesday.