La Liga referees threatens strike amid Real Madrid statement
La Liga referees are purportedly considering going on strike after a letter from Real Madrid doubting their integrity.
In a suprise statement, the Champions League winners said “decisions against Real Madrid have reached a level of manipulation and adulteration of the competition that can no longer be ignored.”
Los Blancos were angry with the quality of officiating during their 1-0 loss at Espanyol.
Vinicius Jr saw a first half goal cancelled for an off-the-ball foul by Kylian Mbappe.
And Espanyol’s Carlos Romero was only shown a yellow card for a studs-up lunge on Mbappe, before scoring the winning goal.
The Real Madrid letter also states that: “The scandal generated by this match has once again had worldwide repercussions, with the international press denouncing the biased use of VAR in Spain and the lack of credibility of Spanish refereeing.”
And the club called for the VAR audio footage of the incidents in question to be released to them immediately.
But, answering a question from a caller, Cope journalist Isaac Fouto stated that some referees in the league are in favour of going on strike in response to the accusations.
He said: “There are referees from the First Division who believe that they should go on strike.”
But he proceeded that: “The strike is either everyone [or no-one]… some have said they will go, but everyone has to go.
“It is being considered, it is being considered in the environment. If this takes this turn, the competition will stop.”
Following the Real Madrid letter, the Spanish FA [RFEF] came out with a statement backing its officials.
The RFEF comment was that: “The refereeing task, by its very nature, is subject to review and analysis.
“But this cannot lead to generalised accusations that cast doubt on their integrity, as this not only affects the referees themselves, but also erodes the credibility of soccer as a whole.
“It is important to reflect on the consequences of this type of systematic questioning of refereeing.
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“Constantly delegitimizing the work of referees outside the established channels generates a climate of mistrust that benefits neither Spanish football nor its competitions.”
Meanwhile Carlo Ancelotti has reportedly said that the refereeing is better in the English Premier League than LaLiga.