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Real Madrid executives met with the head of Spain’s refereeing body on Monday, after the club filed a formal complaint over the referee’s decisions in their 1-0 LaLiga defeat at Espanyol earlier this month.
Madrid were furious at referee Alejando Muñiz Ruiz for opting not to send off Espanyol defender Carlos Romero for a challenge on Kylian Mbappé — with Romero later scoring the game’s only goal — and sent an open letter to the Spanish football federation [RFEF] on Feb. 4, requesting access to audio of conversations between officials surrounding the incident.
The complaint accused officials of “manipulation and adulteration” of the competition, saying Spain’s refereeing system was “completely discredited,” in allegations which drew an angry response from the federation, LaLiga and other clubs.
On Monday, Madrid’s director general José Ángel Sánchez and secretary of the club’s board, José Luis del Valle, attended RFEF headquarters in Las Rozas, outside Madrid, to listen to the VAR audio, and for discussions with the head of Spain’s technical committee of referees [CTA], Luis Medina Cantalejo.
“It’s normal that there are questions that have to be asked about an incident,” Medina Cantalejo told journalists. “We talked about various issues, which are internal — not internal because they’re secret, but because they’re private matters — which relate to the CTA, and a club which comes here to talk to us, and we talk to them.
“Obviously [the meeting] took a while, because within an atmosphere of friendliness and good manners, that’s what had to happen. If there’d have been a confrontation, which isn’t what anybody expected or wanted, the meeting would have been over in five minutes. It was so long because we spoke with absolute transparency and truth.”
Madrid have frequently complained about refereeing decisions in LaLiga, with the club’s TV channel, Real Madrid TV, regularly highlighting errors from officials.
After the Espanyol game, Madrid were also unhappy with refereeing decisions in their 1-1 derby draw with Atlético Madrid on Feb. 8, and their 1-1 draw at Osasuna on Saturday.
“In our last three games, things have happened that everybody has seen. But I don’t want to say anything more about that, because I want to be sat on the bench for the next match,” coach Carlo Ancelotti said. “I think there’s a problem [with referees]. In the last three games something has happened that shouldn’t have happened.”
Sources told ESPN that following the meeting, Real Madrid were still unable to understand the decision not to send off Romero. The club have demanded changes, sources said, but believe their complaint has left them exposed, given refereeing decisions in subsequent games.
By contrast, the federation felt the talks had been positive, sources said, and Madrid had been treated in the same way as any other club.
