Football
Sam Marsden, Barcelona correspondent 7y

RFEF fines Valencia for bottle toss at Neymar; Barcelona get warning

The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has fined Valencia €1,500 after a supporter threw a bottle during Barcelona's stoppage-time winner celebration at Mestalla on Saturday.

However, they have also criticised the Catalan club's players for their role in the scenes which marred the end of an enthralling match. 

Lionel Messi's late penalty sealed a dramatic 3-2 win for Luis Enrique's side and led to the Barca players celebrating in front of the home fans in the Curva Nord.

As they did, a bottle was thrown at them, with Neymar and Luis Suarez among those to claim they'd been hit by the object and drop to the ground.

Referee Undiano Mallenco included the incident in his report and the RFEF has deemed it worthy of a fine for Valencia, with the warning of the "closure of facilities in the event that similar incidents occur again in the future."

Los Che have 10 days to decide if they will appeal.

Barca, meanwhile, responded to the RFEF report by labelling the comments "totally reprehensible and excessive."

They complain that the hostile atmosphere suffered by their players -- "who were the victims of clearly condemnable behaviour expressed in a multiple ways before, during and after the game" -- was not taken into account.

"FC Barcelona hope that after this resolution the [RFEF] will occupy themselves with analysing and judging the correctness of the way all teams celebrate each and every one of their goals," the club's statement adds.

"The committee should have confined itself to analysing the facts and applying the existing rules, avoiding any kind of assessment, which as well as being unfair, is incompatible with the principles that should govern the actions of this organisation."

Valencia claimed gestures from Neymar provoked the anger among their fans and led to the ugly scenes.

Both the fan who threw the bottle and midfielder Dani Parejo have criticised the Brazilian, with the latter accusing him of "taunting the crowd and antagonising others." 

The RFEF has agreed with those complaints, criticising Barca's players for both provoking the incident and then overreacting when the bottle was thrown.

However, it also pointed out that the behaviour did not mean the home supporters were right to react in the manner which they did.

A report released on Wednesday said: "The reproachable behaviour shown by some of the F.C. Barcelona players, who made certain gestures and expressions to the [Valencia] supporters as they celebrated the goal they'd just scored, should not be overlooked.

"Nor was it precisely an example of sportsmanship the way some of the club's players reacted -- without having come into contact with the bottle -- by simultaneously feigning they'd been struck by the object.

"None of the [events] should happen in a sporting competition, which at all times should see mutual respect and fair play between fans and players.

"However, the alleged 'provocation' referred to by Valencia cannot be used as mitigating circumstances or to excuse [the fans or the club] from responsibility.

"The aforementioned behaviour by some players from F.C. Barcelona discredits and ridicules [themselves]. But we insist that nothing, absolutely nothing, justifies a violent reaction by the public."

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