Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon was charged with violating UEFA’s code of conduct on Friday for comments he made about referee Michael Oliver.
He made the comments after his team’s UEFA Champions League quarter-final defeat by Real Madrid of Spain last month.
The Juve captain was enraged by Oliver’s decision to award Real Madrid a decisive stoppage-time penalty kick during the second-leg tie at the Bernabeu.
He had screamed at and jostled the English referee until he was shown a red card.
Forward Cristiano Ronaldo stepped up to convert the penalty kick and send Real through to the semi-finals 4-3 on aggregate.
The 40-year-old Buffon criticised Oliver after the match, saying the referee had been out of his depth.
He had added that Oliver should have been in the stands eating crisps and must have had a garbage bin for a heart.
UEFA said in a statement on its website that Buffon had been charged both for receiving a direct red card and with violating the governing body’s “general principles of conduct”.
The case will be dealt with by the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body on May 31.(Reuters/NAN)