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Al Khalafi with Leonardo (Reuters)
A very serious incident took place in the locker room at the Santiago Bernabeu after Real Madrid’s crazy 1-3 over Paris Saint-Germain that led to the relegation of the French from the Champions League already in the quarter-finals, according to reports in the Spanish media. The president of the French team, Nasser al-Khalafi, went on a rampage, shouting, punching, threatening and apparently also getting involved with the UEFA.
Al Khalafi, like his coach Mauricio Pochettino, was angry because he claimed Karim Benzema committed a foul on Gigi Donaroma just before he scored the equalizer. The VAR judges decided, as is well known, not to intervene, and the rest is history. But legitimate anger and to what has reportedly happened in the locker rooms, the distance is great.
In Spain they claimed that at the end of the game Al Khalafi and the sporting director Leonardo came down from the stands shouting in all directions, reached the locker room area and went to look for the referees. Al-Khalifi allegedly screamed and raged in the locker rooms, waved his fists in the air and tried to force his way into the referee’s room, and when one of the Real Madrid staff photographed his riot he threatened “I will kill you” while Leonardo demanded the same staff member delete the photo. It was further alleged that the security guards of al-Khalafi and other people stopped him from attacking the same staff member he was photographing. In Spain, the event was described as a “really contemptible moment.”
In Spain, too, it was claimed that a UEFA representative confirmed the incident and said: “Al Khalafi and Leonardo were very aggressive and tried to enter the courtroom by force. “When the judge asked them to leave, they blocked the door, and Al-Khalifi threw equipment from one of the judges and broke it.” It was further alleged that the judge’s report also confirms the incident which read: “The president of PSG and the sporting director were aggressive and tried to enter the judges’ locker room. The judges asked them to leave. “They blocked the door and the president deliberately slammed one of the judges’ equipment.” As for the filming of the incident, UEFA requested that the footage be handed over to her. And according to the report, Real sent the video to the UEFA, which will teach the event.
