Soccer-Romanian club to sue referee for 'robbery'

BUCHAREST, March 20 (Reuters) - Relegation-threatened Romanian club Otelul Galati are taking legal action against a referee after his "disastrous performance" in their goalless draw in a domestic league match against CSMS Iasi on Wednesday. "Otelul Galati will sue referee Marian Balaci because he influenced the outcome of the game against CSMS Iasi," Otelul, 2011 Romanian champions, said in a statement on Friday. After seven successive matches without a win, Otelul slumped to 17th place with 15 points from 22 games, nine adrift of safety. CSMS Iasi are 11th with 25 points, four above the relegation zone. "He came here to rob us. You cannot mock a club who is paying (your fee)," Otelul's administrative manager Vlad Rapisca said. Otelul accused Balaci of committing a number of deliberate errors, including not awarding them a penalty for a foul on Alexandru Tudorie and a free kick on the edge of the penalty area for a foul on Florin Cernat. They also said Portuguese midfielder Helder Tavares was wrongly shown a yellow card for diving. "Does that mean that we have a team of Oscar (winning) actors or the referee is suspicious?," the Galati-based club said. Otelul also criticised Romanian referees' chief Kyros Vassaras, a former leading Greek official, for not suspending officials who perform poorly in matches. Neither ex-FIFA referee Vassaras nor Balaci were immediately available for comment. (Reporting by Angel Krasimirov, editing by Ed osmond)