Awaiting the severe sanction that Real Zaragoza goalkeeper, Esteban Andrada, will face for the brutal punch he delivered to SD Huesca player, Jorge Pulido, which has gone viral worldwide, the Aragonese club also wanted to express this Monday its “absolute disagreement” with the refereeing performance of Dámaso Arcediano, “especially due to the disparate criteria” in decisions made in both areas. “It clearly and directly conditioned the result,” they add in a statement.
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Arcediano, the most veteran of the Second Division referees, called two penalties against Real Zaragoza in a do-or-die Aragonese derby. The first was saved by Esteban Andrada shortly after the start of the match, and the second, in the second half, resulted in the 1-0 that ended up being decisive and allowed Huesca to surpass their rival by one point in the table, where both remain in relegation spots to Primera REF.
From the club, they highlight that they condemned “immediately” and “emphatically” what happened at the end of the match, when Andrada, expelled for a second yellow card, delivered a violent punch to Pulido’s face, knocking him down instantly and causing a bruise on his cheekbone. These events, they recall, “stain” the image of Real Zaragoza and “should never have happened.”
Even so, the club from Zaragoza maintains that there have been “numerous” occasions throughout the season where the club has been harmed by refereeing decisions, something they have already expressed and communicated through different channels to the competent bodies when they deemed it appropriate.
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“This in no way justifies the aggression of our player Esteban Andrada nor the sporting situation the club is going through and in which it has been immersed almost throughout the entire season,” they insist.
Given this situation, the club demands that, heading into the final stretch of the championship, the application of regulations be carried out with “maximum rigor, coherence, and uniformity.” “Even more so, if possible, in a final phase of the season where so much is at stake,” they maintain.
