Getafe star Abdel Abqar bizarrely went viral on Saturday night after he was sent off for allegedly ‘pinching an opponent’s genitals’ during their clash against Atletico Madrid.
The match, which took place at the Metropolitano in Madrid, descended into chaos seven minutes into the second half following the shock incident.
With Atletico leading 1-0 through Nahuel Molina’s first-half strike, referee Miguel Ortiz Arias halted play and signalled a VAR check for something that had happened off the ball.
Replays then showed Abqar clashing with Atletico striker Alexander Sorloth.
In the clip, the Moroccan defender nudged Sorloth as he walked past him before he appeared to pinch his groin with his thumb and index finger.
This infuriated Sorloth, who didn’t go to ground but instead pulled Abqar to the floor.
Getafe defender Abdel Abqar (in yellow) was sent off for allegedly pinching Alexander Sorloth’s genitals in a bizarre off-the-ball incident
Abqar pleaded his innocence after the game and claimed he didn’t mean to touch Sorloth there
After a lengthy look at the VAR monitor, Arias made the decision to brandish a red card towards Abqar, while Sorloth received a yellow card.
However, Abqar was left shocked by the decision and attempted to plead his innocence after the game.
‘I want to make it clear that it wasn’t my intention to touch the player in that area,’ he told Movistar LaLiga.
‘In football, we touch each other, we collide, but I didn’t intend to touch him there. The video clearly shows that I wasn’t looking to touch him there.
‘I swear I didn’t intend to touch him; I wanted to make contact, as happens in football. What the referee saw was that I wanted to touch him there, but it wasn’t my intention. I swear on my family that I didn’t want to touch him there.’
Abqar continued: ‘They stop him there, but if you watch the video, I don’t look at him, and my hand is meant to touch his stomach, like sometimes I touch an opponent to find out where he is. I want to make it clear that I didn’t mean to touch him there.’
Getafe boss Jose Bordalas also leapt to the defence of his defender after the match as he added: ‘I’ve seen the play, and from what’s been said so far, I think Abqar is right.
‘At no point was he looking at Sorloth; they were jostling throughout the match, the typical thing between a striker and a defender.
‘Without looking, he tried to pull at his shirt and grabbed his shorts.’
However, Atletico goalkeeper Juan Musso disagreed, and suggested the incident was something that had no place in the modern game.
‘These are things that happened 30 years ago, the referee was right to send him off,’ he said.
‘Before you could do this [in football], now there is no place for these things.’
Atletico held out to secure the victory, their fourth in a row, moving them up to third in LaLiga and six points behind second-place Real Madrid.
