More than 430,000 people have signed a petition calling for UEFA and FIFA to punish Sergio Ramos for hurting Mohamed Salah during Saturday night’s Champions League final clash between Real Madrid and Liverpool in Kiev.
In addition to the two costly blunders committed by goalkeeper Loris Karius, the early loss of top scorer and multiple-award winning star Salah at the NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium dealt a massive blow to the Reds’ hopes of claiming a sixth European title.
With many anticipating an exhilarating showdown between the Egyptian and Real talisman Cristiano Ronaldo, Salah left the pitch in tears after less than half an hour having suffered a serious-looking shoulder injury.
The issue was sustained during a tussle with Ramos, who appeared to lock arms with the influential former Chelsea forward before an awkward landing.
Such an incident has divided opinion and sparked renewed debate regarding the Real captain’s defensive methods.
Siding with the likes of former Egypt striker Mido in believing that Ramos acted intentionally is the creator of a Change.org petition that is well on its way to hitting an intended target of 500,000 signatures by Monday afternoon.
The petition alleges that the Spain stalwart ‘intentionally kept Mohamed Salah’s arm under his armpit, causing dislocation of his shoulder’.
It further claims that Ramos ‘represents an awful example to future generations of football players’ and that ‘instead of winning matches fairly, he uses tricks that defy the spirit of the game and fair play’.
‘UEFA and FIFA should take measures against Ramos and similar players, using the video recordings of matches to keep the spirit of the game,’ it finishes, also suggesting that the 32-year-old ‘kept acting that Liverpool players fouled him falsely, causing the referee to give (Sadio) Mane a yellow card he did not deserve’.
Plenty of pundits including BT Sport duo Frank Lampard and Rio Ferdinand have expressed their belief that the incident was purely accidental, however, while Ramos extended his best wishes to Salah on social media on Sunday and denied any intent on his part.
‘Sometimes football shows you its good side and others the bad,’ he wrote on Twitter. ‘Above all we are fellow pros. Get well soon, Salah. The future awaits you.’
While the petition states that Salah is set to miss the World Cup as a result of the injury picked up in Ukraine, the player subsequently revealed that he is confident of being fit for the tournament in Russia.
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