La Liga President Slams Real Madrid’s Referee Complaints
Javier Tebas, the president of Spain’s La Liga, strongly criticised Real Madrid on Thursday after the club accused Spanish referees of being biased against them.
Tebas said the club’s leadership had “lost its mind” and called their accusations “completely baseless.” He also mentioned that La Liga is considering legal action over a letter Madrid published this week, claiming that the league is “adulterated” to favour other clubs.
Tebas told reporters, “They’ve made up an exaggerated story of victimisation, which I think aims to harm the competition. It’s completely over the top. They’ve lost their minds.”
The letter from Real Madrid came after they felt wronged by referee decisions during their 1-0 loss to Espanyol. Madrid was especially upset by a foul on Kylian Mbappé by Espanyol’s Carlos Romero, who received a yellow card but Madrid believed should have been sent off with a red. Romero later scored the winning goal. After a video review, the referees decided a yellow card was the correct decision.
Madrid’s four-page letter described the refereeing as “scandalous” and said the system was “completely discredited,” accusing it of manipulating results against them.
The club also released a four-minute video on their website showing the foul and quotes from media outlets who believed it was a red card offence.
Tebas responded by criticising Real Madrid’s club TV, saying it regularly produced videos accusing referees of making unfair decisions. He added that Madrid TV even went as far as calling referees “corrupt.”
Real Madrid, who won last season’s La Liga title and 15th European Cup, currently lead the Spanish league by one point. They play second-placed Atletico Madrid on Saturday.
Many football fans, including rival supporters, have been confused by Madrid’s complaints, questioning why they believe referees are unfairly targeting them.
