Bergiristain furious at insinuations of favoritism

Barcelona's Director of Football, Txiki Bergiristain this Sunday launched a furious criticism at what he sees as an attempt to influence referees against the Primera Liga leaders.

Speaking in sports paper Marca the day after Barcelona's 2-0 win at home to Getafe, Bergiristain accused the Madrid based press of inventing a conspiracy to imply that Barca was being favored by referees because of pressure from Spanish Football Federation President Angel Maria Villar.

The pro-Real Madrid press has even given it a name 'Villarato.'

Barcelona ended the Getafe match with just nine men after Gerard Pique and Gabriel Marquez had been sent off and although both decisions were probably correct, Bergiristain believes the 'Villarato' campaign is having an effect.

"It is a shame that after we beat Sporting Gijon a week ago, we had to spend the whole week talking about referees. It is a disgrace that we are not talking about football, but we are talking about referees, Villar and other things."

"Referees do the best job they can and the campaigns from Madrid have been intolerable," added Bergiristain.

Source: Xinhua