PSG issue UEFA with dossier following Barcelona defeat

Paris Saint-Germain send five-page letter and dossier of refereeing errors to Uefa following Barcelona defeat

Paris Saint-Germain have sent a detailed five-page letter of complaint to Uefa about the performance of referee Deniz Aytekin during last week’s extraordinary Champions League tie against Barcelona. It includes a dossier of errors made by the official.

The French club have employed experts, including former international referees, to analyse the match in which Barcelona overturned a 4-0 deficit from the first leg to win 6-1 and progress into the last eight.

There were a series of controversial incidents during the game with Aytekin awarding Barcelona two penalties and coming under extreme pressure from the Spanish side’s players.

PSG have included eight incidents in their report which they have submitted to European football’s governing body, demanding that such mistakes are not repeated. There is an inference that the ‘bigger’ team in Barcelona was looked upon favourably by the official.

PSG are not demanding a replay – an online petition, with no link to the club, has topped 200,000 calling for the game to be played again (it was set up by a Real Madrid fan) – or any sanctions against Aytekin.

However PSG have told Uefa that they do not feel they received enough “respect” from the referee while at the same time obviously accepting that their team played poorly to suffer such an amazing reversal.

Even so PSG can point to a number of incidents that went against them and believe they happened because of the atmosphere created inside the Nou Camp and the crowding of Aytekin by the Barcelona players. Luis Suarez was cautioned for diving but also won the 90th minute penalty, again going over easily, that proved so vital.

At the same time PSG were denied a clear penalty of their own when Angel Di Maria was fouled by Javier Mascherano who later admitted: “It is clear that I did foul Di Maria but I think that is not the reason why we eliminated PSG.”

The dossier, including video clips, highlights a series of incidents including the first penalty awarded to Barcelona, for a foul on Neymar, an apparent stamp by Neymar on his fellow Brazilian Marquinhos, a handball by Gerard Pique and a shirt pull also by the defender that went unpunished. PSG sources said they were ‘shocked’ by the number of incidents when they reviewed the match.

There have been claims that Aytekin faces demotion because of his performance and may be removed from Champions League duty. That decision ultimately rests with former referee Pierluigi Collina, who now works as Uefa’s Head of Refereeing.