Buffon charged over Michael Oliver comments
JUVENTUS' Gianluigi g Buffon has been charged g by y Uefa over comments about referee Michael Oliver after their Champions League defeat by Real Madrid.
Buffon ffon was sent off for dissent after Oliver awarded Real a late penalty, which they scored to go through.
Following lowing the quarter-final second leg on 11 April, Italian n Buffon said the official had "a bag of rubbish" rather r than "a heart" and should "sit in the stands" and "eat eat crisps". Real al progressed 4-3 on aggregate. Uefa fa says the 40-year-old Italy goalkeeper has been charged with breaching its "general principles of conduct" nduct" after his outburst against the English referee. e.
European ropean football's governing body, which also charged ed Buffon for the red card, said in a statement the case ase will be dealt with on 31 May.
Referee feree Oliver and wife Lucy were offered police support ort after both were targeted ted on social media following wing the incident, with police p also investigating g g threatening g text messages. Immediately after the game, Juventus captain Buffon said: “It was a tenth of a penalty. “I know the referee saw what he saw, but it was certainly a dubious incident. Not clear-cut. And a dubious incident at the 93rd minute when we had a clear penalty denied in the first leg, you cannot award that at this point. “The team gave its all, but a human being cannot destroy y dreams like that at the end of an extraordinary comeback co on a dubious situation.
“Clearly you cannot c have a heart in your chest, but a bag of rubbish. On top of that, if you don’t have the character to walk on a pitch like this in a stadium like this, you can sit in the stands with your wife, your kids, having your you drink and eating crisps.
“You cannot r ruin the dreams of a team. I could’ve told the referee anything at that moment, but he had to understan understand the degree of the disaster he was creating.
“If you can’t handle the pressure and have the courage to make a decision, then you should just sit in the stands and eat your crisps.”
Several days la later, Buffon defended his comments on Italian TV: “The “content remains and I stand by all of it. I’d say them th all again - maybe with a different type of language language.
“You find a w way to speak, right or wrong, that at times can seem excessive - but this is me, I am Gigi Buffon.”
— BBC Sport