Sergio Ramos’ red card was the biggest talking point when Sevilla was defeated by Real Sociedad on November 26 in La Liga. The defender was sent off via a straight red card for a sliding challenge on Brais Mendez. The conversation on the sending-off continued when Ramos appeared in a press conference ahead of Sevilla’s clash with PSV in the UEFA Champions League.
The former Spanish international talked about the attitude of the referee, Ortiz Arias, when he was questioned about the incident in the press conference. Ramos said: “Referees can also make mistakes, like us. In the past, they were put in the fridge when they made wrong decisions. We’re here to help. The referee the other day (Arias) is a distant person who speaks with an out-of-place arrogance being a referee, and we don’t like that.”
Ramos added that in his opinion the straight card was excessive: “It’s a play in a danger zone, defenders are always in that space. You have to take a chance. I took the ball and then caught Brais (Mendez). For me, the straight red card is excessive, I think it had to be yellow.”
Sergio Ramos on the referee Ortiz Arias who gave him a straight red card on Sunday:
“The other day the ref was a distant person, he spoke with misplaced arrogance.”
“We only ask that there is respect, it’s the only thing that we (the players) ask for.”pic.twitter.com/H587q6AGCx
— LaLigaExtra (@LaLigaExtra) November 28, 2023
Initially, Arias gave a second yellow to Ramos for the challenge but VAR intervened and Arias changed his decision to a straight card. The double red card raised some eyebrows in the online community due to the bizarre incident. However, for Sevilla, the straight red added more misery to the loss as Ramos will be banned for two matches for the straight red card.
Ramos further commented that Sevilla will appeal the decision to reduce the ban to only one game. The defender wants to return to action quickly to help his team which is without a league win in seven league games.
Sergio Ramos becomes the second player to speak against Ortiz Arias
These latest comments from Ramos might ring the alarm bells for La Liga as the defender is the second player to speak out against Ortiz Arias in two months. Back in October, Girona’s David Lopez accused Arias of rude and insulting language in the first half of Girona’s clash with Almeria at Montilivi.
Lopez said during the interview after the first half: “It’s difficult to play like this – he disrespects you, he insults you. You have to try to forget and focus on the game, but it complicates things. I’m talking about the referee – we players in La Liga already know about him.”
Girona’s David López made some scathing halftime comments on referee Ortiz Arias:
“The referee insults you. He is arrogant. You can’t work in a situation like that. He lacks respect. He insults you. All La Liga players know it.”
— Zach Lowy (@ZachLowy) October 22, 2023
The Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) denied these accusations and asked Girona and David Lopez to issue a statement clearing Arias. Lopez retracts the statements later by stating that he “was confused and did not understand a statement by the referee.”
Lopez escaped a suspension from La Liga for his statements but this new statement Ramos which follows a similar theme might push La Liga to revisit the case of Arias to see if there is any more truth to both the incidents. Ramos might find himself under more pressure if the statements turn out to be baseless.