Seconds after Nabil Fekir scored the equalizer, from the Benito Villamarín stands A bar, made of unknown material, was thrown and hit Joan Jordán’s back. Fortunately, the footballer, fortunately, does not appear to be seriously damaged. The Sevilla midfielder, very angry, told De Burgos Bengoetxea. Then, chaos reigned for a few minutes, with the referee talking to different people at the foot of the field and through the earpiece. Finally, he decided to send the players to the locker room, leaving the game temporarily interrupted. Iturralde confirmed that it is only the referee, together with his assistants, who must decide. Therefore, neither Medina Cantalejo nor the RFEF was contacted to resolve the setback. Around eleven o’clock at night, the game was definitively suspended. According to Iturralde, it is out of the question for Betis to be eliminated from the competition.
Joan Jordán, moments after receiving the impact, sat down on the ground, dizzy, and had to be taken to the locker room with the help of several men from the Sevilla bench. Meanwhile, tension grew between the protagonists and even a member of the Betis coaching staff blamed the visiting player for his attitude. The local footballers continued on the pitch for a few seconds, despite the fact that the Sevilla players had already left. While the footballers had left, the people continued in the stands and booed those responsible for the area from which the bar came out. These fans continued to support the team, to the regret of the rest of the stadium for their previous attitude.
Iturralde González reported the move like this: “If that’s an iron bar, the match can’t continue. We always hold on, hold on. What if it hits him in the head? If it hits the referee, we suspend, but if it hits a player, right? You have to suspend. If he takes out an eye, what? This is like the Isi move. The expulsion is after the blood. If they are not able to maintain this, we suspend and that’s it. We cannot continue as if nothing had happened. We are not going to talk about hobbies, we are going to talk about facts. The regulations say that if it happens to the referee you have to suspend and if it happens to a player you have to study the situation. The rules can’t be like that.“.
The message from Betis
Moments after the action, Betis published the following on the video scoreboards: “Since the start of the 2021/22 season, Real Betis Balompié has been denounced by the competent authorities in each of the matches played at the Benito Villamarín Stadium, considering that chants have been uttered from the stands that could be sanctioned according to the provisions of current regulations on the fight against violence, racism, xenophobia and intolerance in sport“.