Real Madrid have filed a formal complaint with the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and Spain’s Sports Ministry (CSD) over the refereeing in Saturday’s defeat at Espanyol, saying the game “represents the culmination of a completely discredited refereeing system” with “a level of manipulation and adulteration which cannot be ignored.”
The LaLiga champions were beaten 1-0 at the RCDE Stadium, a result which saw their lead at the top of the table reduced to just one point.
Espanyol’s goalscorer in the 85th minute was defender Carlos Romero, who had earlier been shown a yellow card — which many observers, including former referees, have agreed should have been red — for a foul on Kylian Mbappé.
In a four-page open letter published on Monday, Madrid’s board said it was making a formal complaint over referee Alejandro Muñiz Ruiz’s decision-making in the match, as well as that of Video Assistant Referee Javier Iglesias Villanueva.
“The events that occurred in this match exceeded any margin for human error or refereeing interpretation,” the letter said. “What happened at the RCDE Stadium represents the culmination of a completely discredited refereeing system, in which decisions against Real Madrid have reached a level of manipulation and adulteration of the competition that can no longer be ignored.”
The letter then highlighted two incidents in the game: the decision not to send off Romero, and an earlier incident in which a goal scored by Vinícius Júnior was disallowed for a foul by Mbappé.
Madrid described the challenge on Mbappé as “brutal.”
“It is particularly serious that in his report, the referee recorded that the action occurred ‘while contesting the ball'” the letter said, “thus distorting and falsifying the reality of what happened, with the only imaginable purpose of justifying his arbitrary decision… The referee’s decision, and the inaction of the VAR, are of unquestionable seriousness.”
“What is really needed is structural reform which prevents these events from happening again and again, as has been happening repeatedly to the detriment of Real Madrid and the integrity of the league,” the letter said.
The club asked the RFEF to hand over audio recordings of conversations between the on-field referee and the VAR around the Romero challenge and the disallowed goal, as well as conversations in the VAR room.
Real Madrid have repeatedly complained about refereeing standards in Spain, and the club’s in-house television channel, Real Madrid TV, has regularly highlighted alleged errors by officials, before and after games.
“This refereeing scandal is not an isolated case,” the letter said. “Superficial changes are not enough… The refereeing system must be completely renewed, from its structure to those within it.”
The RFEF, and its Technical Committee of Referees, which is responsible for managing officials in Spain, has yet to comment on the complaint.
The federation’s recently elected president, Rafael Louzan, revealed last week that Madrid president Florentino Pérez had told him he would like to bring in English referees, to improve the standard of officiating in Spain.
Also on Monday, LaLiga president Javier Tebas said Real Madrid’s call for English referees contradicted their previous vote within a league meeting.
“I was not at all surprised by Real Madrid’s letter, as it doesn’t say anything different from what their television channel has been repeating for some time,” Tebas said in a social media post. “Many of us advocate a radical change in the refereeing system, moving closer to the English or German model, with a completely different organisation, and much more transparency… What is truly striking is that, at a LaLiga meeting on April 19, 2023, we debated and even voted on this change, and Real Madrid opposed it.”