It's about 5 million euros

“Corruption!” Soccer club sues referee

A referee in Spain has been sued for five million euros in damages for allegedly depriving a third division club of promotion to the second division. According to media reports, the club Nàstic de Tarragona filed the lawsuit against the referee.

The background to this is his performance in a controversial match against Málaga on June 22, which ended 2:2. The draw saw Málaga promoted instead of Tarragona.

According to the sports newspaper "Marca" and other media, the club is demanding compensation of five million euros for the economic and moral damage caused. Antoine Jordà, lawyer and board member of Nàstic, spoke of a "case of corruption in sport and falsification of an official document" in relation to the match report. There is evidence "that proves predetermined behavior to change the result of a match of great economic importance".

Various Spanish media outlets have been able to view the documents in court. According to the documents, Tarragona accuses referee Eder Mallo Fernández of deliberately distorting the result of the match, applying the rules "inconsistently" and "in favor of Malaga". The game was "irregularly extended" "until this team was able to score a goal", quoted the newspaper "El País". According to "El País", the complaint has not yet been admitted for processing.

Club used detectives
Tarragona also submitted a report from a detective agency to the court, according to which there had been corresponding agreements at a dinner before the match. In addition, the referee is said to have announced the sending off of a Tarragona player in advance.

In the game, the Catalans were actually outnumbered from the 63rd minute onwards. In extra time, Málaga drew 2-2 in the 122nd minute and secured promotion to the second division.

"This man cannot go unpunished"
"There are things that are unacceptable: This man cannot go unpunished, even though we know that we will not get promotion back and that he will most likely declare himself insolvent," said Jordà at a press conference on his club's actions.