Real Madrid sends harsh letter to Spanish soccer bosses complaining of ref mistakes

MADRID (AP) — Real Madrid formally complained of refereeing mistakes to the Spanish Football Federation and the country’s top sports authority on Monday.

The letter was sent two days after Madrid felt it was hurt by refereeing mistakes in a 1-0 loss at Espanyol in La Liga. The result allowed Atletico Madrid to move within one point of leader Real Madrid ahead of the rivals’ match at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on Saturday.

Madrid said its board of directors agreed to send the “formal complaint … in the wake of the poor refereeing performance at the RCDE Stadium” on Saturday.

Madrid complained mainly of a hard foul on Kylian Mbappé by Espanyol defender Carlos Romero in the 60th minute. Romero was shown a yellow card but Madrid felt he should have been sent off with a straight red card.

After a video review, the officiating crew considered the yellow card was appropriate. Madrid called it a “brutal” foul. Romero ended up scoring Espanyol’s winning goal in the 85th.

Real Madrid sends harsh letter to Spanish soccer bosses complaining of ref mistakes | iNFOnews.ca — Real Madrid’s Fran Garcia reacts at the end of a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Espanyol and Real Madrid at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday Feb.1, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

Madrid said in its four-page letter that the performance of the VAR and the officiating crew was “scandalous.” It demanded the availability of the audio conversations related to the controversial plays in the match.

It also complained of the refereeing decision to disallow what it called an “absolutely legal” goal by Vinícius Júnior in the 21st after VAR saw a foul by Mbappé in the buildup.

Madrid said the mistakes prompted “worldwide repercussion,” with the “international media denouncing” the use of the VAR in Spain and its poor officiating.

Madrid said Saturday’s “scandal was not an isolated case” and was part of a “refereeing system that lacks credibility” and has “structural problems” that have been made evident in recent years.

All top clubs in Spain systematically complain of poor refereeing in the country, though a formal complaint like Madrid’s was not that usual.

Spanish league president Javier Tebas said on X that there have been proposals to change the refereeing structure in Spain to make it more transparent, but noted that Madrid was one of the clubs that voted against the changes and did not present an alternate solution.