Insult: Costa threatens draconian punishment

Diego Costa of Atletico Madrid is suspended by the Spanish league for eight matches for his insult to referee Gil Manzano in the match against FC Barcelona, according to Radio COPE and Radio Marca. The 30-year-old’s championship season would thus be over early with seven games to play.

The decisive factor for the length of the ban was that Costa had not become conspicuous for the first time. In addition, the player denied the insult after the match, but the sound recording of the referee microphone apparently recorded his words.

“I’m shooting**** at your Hu*** mother”, Costa had therefore called in the direction of Manzano and after 28 minutes had seen the red card. The striker then approached the referee. Coach Diego Simeone agreed to the referee’s decision after the match.

Costa would miss the games against FC Valencia (24 April) and FC Sevilla (12 May) due to the suspension. The title fight should be over after the 2-0 defeat against FC Barcelona and correspondingly eleven points behind.