Atletico Madrid star striker Diego Costa has been suspended for eight league games -- which means he's done for the La Liga season -- for verbally assaulting and grabbing referee Jesus Gil Manzano in last weekend's 2-0 loss to Barcelona. In the match, which all but assured the league crown will go to Barca, Costa was called for a foul when he went up to the referee and insulted his mother. 

According to Marca (comments in link considered NSFW), Gil Manzano said that Costa directed an expletive-filled insult at his mother. Atletico Madrid has claimed that Costa did not utter those words, and that he was directing the insult towards his own mother. In the ref's post-match report, he also wrote the following according to Marca:

"Once expelled, still on the field of play, he grabbed me by the arm in order to prevent me from showing the cards to teammates No. 2 and No. 24, respectively," the report read. 

The punishment was handed down on Thursday by the Spanish federation's competition committee. He's been fined just under $7,000 and the club has been fined roughly $3,000. His punishment is four games specifically for the verbal tirade and four more for grabbing the ref's arm.

A former former FIFA referee that has once officiated a World Cup final tells CBS Sports a strong punishment is the right way to go about it:

"One thing is protesting which should be a yellow card, another thing is an insult. If there is an insult or an offense towards the ref, it should be a red. It's an irresponsible act from the player to leave their team a ma down for something completely avoidable. They are thinking just about their anger and not their team. He's rightfully sent off," the referee said. 

When reached for comment as to how La Liga officials goes about deciding what warrants a yellow or red card when it comes to insults, the league did not respond as of Monday morning. 

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