May 8 – Former Spain and Barcelona defender Gerard Piqué has been hit with a six-match ban and a two-month suspension from official football activity by the Spanish football federation (RFEF) following a confrontation with a referee.
Piqué, who retired in 2022 and now co-owns Spanish second-division side FC Andorra, was involved in the incident during his club’s 1-0 defeat to Albacete last week.
In his post-match report, referee Alonso de Ena Wolf quoted Piqué as telling him to “leave with an escort so nobody attacks you” and adding, “in another country they would beat you up, but here in Andorra we are a civilised country.”
A disciplinary committee handed down the two-month suspension “for notorious and public acts that undermine sporting dignity and decorum, based on the facts recorded in the referee’s report.” The separate six-match ban was issued “for acts involving minor violence toward the referees.”
Piqué was not the only Andorra figure sanctioned. Club president Ferran Vilaseca received a four-month suspension, and sporting director Jaume Nogues was also banned. Andorra currently sits 10th in Spain’s second tier.
The 39-year-old enjoyed one of the most decorated careers of his generation, winning nine La Liga titles and three Champions League trophies at Barcelona, alongside Spain’s 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 triumphs.
The episode raises an uncomfortable question for the modern game, as former superstars believe the rules bend differently for them once they cross from the pitch into the boardroom? Piqué is a club co-owner, with all the institutional responsibility that role carries. Yet the language attributed to him reads less like an executive engaging with a match official and more like a decorated veteran assuming his stature still buys latitude.
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