(Reuters) – LaLiga President Javier Tebas criticised Real Madrid on Thursday, saying the club had “lost their head” after lodging an letter of complaint against the Spanish league’s referees.
Madrid sent the letter following their 1-0 defeat by Espanyol on Saturday, with controversy surrounding a decision not to award a red card to Espanyol defender Carlos Romero for fouling Kylian Mbappe as he ran up the pitch on a breakaway.
“They are against everything. That’s the reality. Real Madrid want to damage the competition, not just the referees,” Tebas told a meeting of LaLiga clubs, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and representatives of the Spanish refereeing committee (CTA), which Real 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,” the president added.
The LaLiga champions said the officials’ decisions – including those of the video assistant referees (VAR) – were biased against them and “completely discredited”.
They sent the complaint to the RFEF and the Spanish High Sports Council, requesting VAR audio after Mbappe’s foul and Vinicius Jr’s disallowed goal.
“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 analysing 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.”
(Reporting by Angelica Medina in Mexico City, editing by Ed Osmond)
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