Spanish striker, Diego Costa has been given an eight-game
ban for his controversial rant at referee Jesus Gil Manzano during Atletico
Madrid's 2-0 defeat by Barcelona last Saturday.
The 30-year-old was shown a straight red card in the 28th
minutes after he repeatedly said to the referee "Me cago en tu puta
madre," which literally translates to "I shit on your whore
mother."
The referee's report also accuses Costa of holding the
referee's arm so as to prevent him taking out more cards for his team-mates.
Gil's report read: 'Once sent-off, still on the pitch, he
grabbed my arm to prevent me from showing yellow cards to his team-mates No 24
[Jose Gimenez] and No 2 [Diego Godin].'
The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) ban consists of four
games for being found in breach of Article 94 of the league's code of conduct
for using insulting or offensive words towards a match official, and four
matches for breaching Article 96, which refers to the use of light violence
towards referees.
Atletico were fined £2,400 while the former Chelsea striker
was fined £5,200 over the incident. They have 10 days in which they can lodge
an appeal.
