Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi stormed the referee's dressing room and broke equipment after his side were knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid, according to the referee's report and verified by multiple reports including ESPN.
Madrid overturned a two-goal deficit in the last-16 second leg, with Karim Benzema's second-half hat-trick sealing a 3-2 aggregate victory for Madrid.
It was the first of Benzema's three goals which enraged PSG, who felt Benzema should have been called for a foul on goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma in the build-up.
MORE: Result & analysis of Real Madrid's incredible comeback vs. PSG
Overall in the match, Real Madrid was called for 12 fouls in the match to PSG's nine, and each side was given four yellow cards. There was also
What did Al-Khelaifi do after the game?
Al-Khelaifi's outburst was documented in the referee's report, which also stated that PSG director of football Leonardo was alongside him.
Al-Khelaifi and Leonardo "behaved aggressively and tried to enter the referee's dressing room," according to the report. "When the referee asked them to leave, the president hit a piece of the assistant's equipment, breaking it."
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The ESPN report states that a source says they had "never seen club executives behave like that."
According to Spanish publication Marca, Al-Khelaifi's behavior was recorded by a Real Madrid employee — possibly club delegate Mejia Davila, whose office Al-Khelaifi initially, mistakenly entered first — who will likely send the footage to UEFA to study for a possible punishment.
There have been a number of various details reported on social media. Some reports state that Al-Khelaifi threatened to "kill" the officials, while others claim that Al-Khelaifi snapped an assistant referee's flag and blocked the door, not allowing the officials to leave.This is intolerable behavior from PSG's president and sporting director.
— Nico Cantor (@Nicocantor1) March 10, 2022
It's being reported by Partidazo de Cope that Al-Khelaïfi and Leonardo marched over to the referees dressing room, and that it got physical and the police had to be called. https://t.co/hVqlm4Po3R
Will UEFA take action against Al-Khelaifi?
According to reports by both The Athletic and L'Equipe on Thursday, UEFA has opened disciplinary proceedings against Al-Khelaifi.
L'Equipe cite Article 11 of the UEFA disciplinary regulations, which states it can sanction anyone who "behaves in an insulting way or otherwise contravenes the elementary rules of propriety." Article 15 also states that "incorrect behavior of players and [club] officials" could result in suspensions or fines.
The situation will now be handled by UEFA’s Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body.
What was said about the refereeing?
Many individuals on the PSG side were upset with the match's officiating, most notably the challenge by Benzema on Donnarumma that led to the opening goal.
"The decision on Donnarumma is not fair," Leonardo said after the game to Canal+. "The foul exists and it is clear. It's impossible not to consult the VAR. But I'm not looking for excuses. We'll have to see what we did."
MORE: Donnarumma mistake cost PSG, but was it a foul?
PSG manager Mauricio Pochettino was more heavy-handed with his comments.
"To concede the goal that we concede, the VAR has given the goal...It's unbelievable," Pochettino said. "It's impossible to accept because it was a clear foul."
"Overall we were the better team, and it's so disappointing when the emotion of the game changed from this type of situation. It's difficult because you have given Real Madrid the belief, and of course it was so difficult to manage this situation because the team was so affected, and it's so unfair to talk about different things because that changed completely the way the game was."
