La Liga's Refereeing Technical Committee calls for Pique punishment

Victoriano Arminio, president of La Liga's Refereeing Technical Committee, says that he will ask the Spanish Football Federation to punish Barcelona defender Gerard Pique for his recent outburst against referee Carlos Velasco Carballo.

The 25-year-old defender vented his frustration for his red card in Saturday's 3-1 victory against Sporting Gijon and went as far as to claim that his sending off had been 'premeditated' by the referee.

"Pique's comments are unfortunate and very serious," Arminio told Radio Nacional. "They make your blood boil, sportsmen must respect each other. His comments affect the state of refereeing and we will obviously report him."

In recent seasons, Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho and his Barcelona counterpart, Pep Guardiola, were each fined 1,500 euros after the Refereeing Technical Committee complained about derogatory remarks from the duo over the standard of refereeing in the country.

The Spanish defender could find himself in hot water for his recent remarks as the referees believe that the player was out of line when he criticized Carballo