Diego Costa banned for eight games after abusing referee

Atletico Madrid forward Diego Costa has been handed an eight-game ban following his verbal abuse of an official last weekend as Atletico Madrid lost 2-0 to Barcelona in La Liga.

The Spanish international was sent off in the 28th minute, although it initially appeared a mystery as to what had occurred. Believing that he had been fouled, Costa pursued the referee, Gil Manzano, grabbing his arm and began a verbal dispute. The player was shown a straight red after it was alleged he shouted profanities about Manzano’s mother.

Per the official match report, Costa said: “I sh*t on your wh*re mother,” although bizarrely he tried stating he was insulting his own mother after the card was shown.

The report also stated that the player grabbed his arm to prevent him from handing out yellow cards to his teammates, an offence that has contributed four out of the eight games he is banned for.

Costa had to be restrained by international colleague, Gerard Pique as he left the field following the incident.

Following the match, Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone stated he felt the red card was justified. The club have been fined

With just seven games remaining of the season, Costa’s campaign is at a premature end, Atletico have been fined £2,400 and Costa has been fined £5,200.

Simeone’s side now sit 11 points behind league leaders Barcelona with just seven games remaining of the campaign.