Qualified spokespersons from FC Barcelona and UEFA have denied any knowledge that the German referee Wolfgang Stark has been punished for his poor refereeing at Parc des Princes in the Paris Saint-Germain – Barca match last Tuesday. UEFA has been quite clear in statements made to Spanish sports daily Mundo Deportivo: “There is no punishment for Stark.”
Regarding the fact that he will not be refereeing in any of the remaining matches of what is left of the Champions League this year, sources from the Referees Committee of UEFA have stated that the officials who usually referee the quarter-finals do not officiate in semi finals or finals. The nominating committee chaired by Pierluigi Collina has already chosen a group that, besides being elite, does not belong to any of the federations of the teams disputing matches.
That group is safeguarded from the quarter-finals in case they make mistakes in their arbitration which would render them inactive for the semi finals and final respectively.
The Catalan club are therefore fearful of any Portuguese referee (especially Benquerença) who may be in that group of selected individuals who could officiate the semi final should Barca beat Paris Saint-Germain tonight.
The Catalan club has denounced by letter with an agreement of the club’s board, the technical blunder by referee Wolfgang Stark who failed to stop play with Javier Mascherano and Jordi Alba on the ground, forcing them to abandon the pitch whilst blowing for a corner in favour of PSG. That letter by the club was echoed in the headquarters in Nyon and was taken to the arbitration top brass for examination.
Barca has not yet received any response to their communication, although Mundo Deportivo can confirm that there has been direct telephone contact between the club president Sandro Rosell and the European football body led by Michel Platini.
What appears to have happened is that Pierluigi Collina and his technical team of referees have “chastised” Wolfgang Stark and his team for their poor performance in the PSG-Barcelona game, especially for his tremendous faux pas, which is improper of an international referee.
Regarding the other two quarter finals played last night, Real Madrid are now through to the semi finals despite losing 3-2 to Galatasaray in Istanbul and Malaga, who put up a terrific fight, were dumped out in injury time by two late Borussia Dortmund goals, losing the game by 3 goals to 2.
