La Liga president Javier Tebas said Thursday Spanish champions Real Madrid were playing the victim and have “lost their head” after they attacked refereeing in the country. Los Blancos were beaten 1-0 at relegation-battling Espanyol on Saturday and subsequently sent a furious letter to the Spanish football federation blasting the country’s refereeing as “rigged” and “completely discredited”. League leaders Madrid were upset Espanyol defender Carlos Romero avoided a red card for hacking down striker Kylian Mbappe and went on to score the winning goal.
“Real Madrid wants to harm the competition (La Liga), not just the refereeing group,” Tebas told reporters.
“They have built a story of victimhood and I think the cherry on top was the letter they published the other day…
“The issue has been blown out of proportion, they have lost their head.”
Tebas was speaking after attending a meeting with La Liga clubs, the Spanish federation (RFEF) and representatives of Spain’s refereeing committee (CTA).
Spanish media said Real Madrid refused to attend the meeting, which was held in order to discuss improvements to football in the country.
CTA president Luis Medina Cantalejo suggested, among other measures, “audio recordings of VAR reviews be broadcast live, provided that FIFA authorises it,” the federation said in a statement.
RFEF chief Rafael Louzan, whose appeal against a seven-year ban from holding public office was upheld earlier Thursday, hailed the meeting as the start of a new era.
“Let this be the beginning of a new, different era, we have the opportunity to create it together,” said Louzan.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)