Tebas Responds To Real Madrid’s Referee Bias Complaint After Recent Defeat

LaLiga President, Javier Tebas, criticized Real Madrid on Thursday, saying the club had “lost their minds” after lodging a letter of complaint against the Spanish league’s referees.

Madrid issued a letter following their 1-0 defeat to Espanyol on Saturday. The letter addressed the controversy over the decision not to award a red card to Espanyol defender, Carlos Romero for his foul on Kylian Mbappé during a counter-attack.

“They are against everything. That’s the reality. Real Madrid wants to damage the competition, not just the referees,” Tebas told a meeting of La Liga clubs, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), and representatives of the Spanish refereeing committee (CTA), which Madrid did not attend.

“They have constructed a narrative of victimhood that culminated in the statement they released the other day. They have told a story of victimhood that is not true,” Tebas added.

The LaLiga champions said the officials’ decisions, including those of the video assistant referees (VAR), were biased against them and “completely discredited.”

A complaint was submitted to the RFEF and the Spanish High Sports Council, requesting access to the VAR audio regarding Mbappé’s foul and the disallowed goal by Vinícius Júnior.

“What happened is not an isolated incident or a simple refereeing error. It is the latest and most serious manifestation of a refereeing system whose credibility has been completely undermined,” the club said in the letter on Monday.

Tebas said La Liga will lodge a complaint against Real Madrid.

“We are going to file a complaint against the club, against those who signed the letter, against the board. We are analyzing it from a legal point of view because, of course, this type of letter cannot be tolerated,” he said.

“It contains untruths or half-truths that are intended to influence issues that cannot be influenced … They have lost their minds … Football doesn’t revolve around Real Madrid.”