– That something so beautiful ends up turning out so ugly! Sara Rodríguez tells us.
And he talks about Álex Baena, his son.
Álex Baena (21) plays for Villarreal, the club where he ended up at the age of eleven: he is a yellow youth squad and, moreover, he is a grateful footballer. On Sunday, after scoring a great goal against Almería, Álex Baena passed his shirt over his head to show a message on the undershirt: “Thank you for everything, Llaneza”.
(José Manuel Llaneza (74), who died three days earlier, had been vice president of Villarreal and an emblem of the club and a mentor of Baena in his professional career)
-Llaneza was like the god of Villarreal, and had always been aware of my son, since he was little. And he asked Álex: ‘Is everything alright, Baena? What do you need?’ –says Sara Rodríguez–. And I already imagined that, if Álex scored in any of these games, he was going to do something to remember Llaneza.
The problem is that the action exceeded the international football regulations (IFAB), which says that "the player who removes his shirt or covers his head with it will be reprimanded."
Six minutes earlier, Baena had received a first yellow card for a tough tackle on Leo Baptistão from Almeria. And now, on account of the celebration of his goal, De Burgos Bengoetxea applied the regulations to the letter and decreed his expulsion.
–Perhaps Álex's mistake was having committed the action of his first card –say sources from his environment–. Because the gesture in homage to Llaneza was scheduled, he brought it beforehand. Is it expulsion? Maybe, but the referee was not good and he could have been more flexible.
The problem is in the scale of flexibility.
From an emotional point of view, what exempts from obeying the regulation? The tribute to the deceased mother, or to a friend? What if there is a hidden political message? Or a covert racist message?
If the decision depends on the discretion of the referee, will they all show the same sensitivity?
The issue is recurrent in soccer forums. While legal sources and the arbitration group applauded the referee's decision, Villarreal tweeted: "This shirt is worth a million expulsions."
Álex Baena's entourage, who is facing a possible one-game suspension, says that the player's magnificent performance in recent days has allowed him to "earn the respect of Emery, the coach, and the ability to make mistakes."
And Sara Rodríguez, the soccer player's mother, refocuses her frustration:
-The expulsion doesn't hurt me as much as the fact that in Almería (where the family lives) they rebuke Álex for having celebrated the goal. It's true, my son was born in Roquetas de Mar. But he never played for Unión Almería. Nothing binds him to that club. Why wouldn't he celebrate?
