UEFA has instructed referees to clamp down on serious foul play in European club competitions, following a plea from Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola for better protection of 'artists' on the pitch. The directive, issued by UEFA's chief refereeing officer Pierluigi Collina, comes as the Champions League and Europa League resume this week.
In a statement, Collina emphasised the need to protect players from reckless challenges that could jeopardise their careers. 'We need to have players playing, so they must be protected on the field,' he said. 'We do not want situations where a player's future is put in doubt because of serious injury caused by a challenge, whether it is intentional, or is unintentional and the player making the challenge is taking a risk of causing injury.'
The guidance follows comments from Guardiola less than a fortnight ago, who urged English referees to deal more harshly with dangerous tackles. City winger Raheem Sterling had previously claimed that players were being 'butchered' by some tackles.
Collina also reminded referees to punish 'professional fouls' that deny obvious goal-scoring opportunities and to resist pressure from groups of players. 'When I see mobbing of a referee, it's something that is not acceptable - this is not the message that we want the game to convey,' the 57-year-old Italian added.
The Champions League last-16 first legs begin this week, with Manchester City visiting Basel and Tottenham travelling to Juventus on Tuesday, while Liverpool face Porto on Wednesday. In the Europa League, Arsenal play Ostersunds and Celtic host Zenit St Petersburg on Thursday.
