Lionel Messi picked up a yellow card for time wasting at the end of Barcelona's dramatic 1-0 win over Valencia last weekend, but it won't stand. After a second appeal, his booking was rescinded.
Lionel Messi’s yellow card for getting hit in the head with a bottle rescinded
Glad we got that sorted out.
Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images
Barcelona scored their winner in the final minute of stoppage time, which didn’t sit well with at least one Valencia supporter, who threw a plastic bottle and hit Messi in the head. He was pretty stunned by the incident, called over a trainer to make sure he wasn’t bleeding, and was subsequently booked for time wasting by a referee that didn’t see him get hit in the head by an object thrown from the crowd.
The Spanish FA’s competition committee issued a statement about Messi’s appeal.
The RFEF said the committee had been unable to detect “deliberate time-wasting” on Messi’s part but only “a normal reaction from someone who had suffered an aggression by a spectator”
Messi’s initial appeal was denied for ... well, it’s not clear why. The angle TV cameras had wasn’t great, but there’s definitely a bottle that comes down and hits someone in the pile.
Valencia say the fan who threw the bottle will be banned for life.
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