Spanish side Gimnastic have reportedly become the first club to file a criminal complaint against a referee.
They have taken the unprecedented action against Eder Mallo Fernandez after he officiated their controversial clash with Malaga on June 22.
Gimnastic were aiming to gain promotion back to the second tier last season but drew the second leg of their play-off 2-2 with Malaga as they slipped to a 4-3 aggregate defeat. Gimnastic were reduced to nine men, and Malaga’s decisive goal came in the 129th minute after extra time was needed to separate the teams.
Fernandez claimed in his match report that he feared for his safety after the final whistle and Gimnastic were subsequently forced to play behind closed doors for four matches.
However, as reported by Mundo Deportivo, Gimnastic deny Fernandez’s claim and have submitted documentary evidence, which include recordings from the detective agency Metodo 3, in an attempt to prove that Fernandez lied.
Mundo Deportivo’s report states Gimnastic have used evidence from a recorded conversation between Fernandez and a detective that allegedly took place on November 25.
Spanish side Gimnastic have reportedly filed a criminal complaint against referee Eder Mallo Fernandez, becoming the first club to do so
The club reportedly alleges that he lied about feeling threatened for his safety after a play-off match against Malaga last season
Fernandez allegedly says in the recording that the situation outside his changing room after the final whistle was ‘not pleasant’, but admitted he was told ‘no one is coming in here’.
Gimnastic argue this contradicts his match report which stated: ‘Once we were in the changing rooms, which we were able to access thanks to the help of the police, a number of incidents occurred at the door of our changing room.
‘We came to fear for our physical safety when we saw that they opened the door and berated us. The security present tells us that it is impossible to remove and control these people because, according to what they tell us, they are several directors and owners of the club.’
Gimnastic have also accused Fernandez of deliberately favouring Malaga to ensure that he got himself a promotion to the second tier to increase his salary fivefold to €100,000-a-year (£83,000-a-year).
They also allege that a private investigation led them to believe the outcome of the match was ‘predetermined’ after Fernandez told a supposed friend and waiter at the Sports Legends Tavern bar in Salou, Carlos Blanco, ‘I have the number of Nàstic’s number 3’.
Gimnastic’s No3, Nacho Gonzalez was then sent off in the 63rd minute of the match the following day.
Gimnastic also hired a former top-flight referee, Xavier Estrada Fernández, to look back over the match.
He is alleged to have spotted ‘more than thirteen flagrant refereeing errors, including nine actions by Málaga players that should have been sanctioned with a yellow card.’
