Several referees have refused to officiate Real Madrid vs Atletico this weekend – report | OneFootball

The formal complaint lodged by Real Madrid with the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) over the refereeing system in La Liga has caused a lot of outrage in the country.

Los Blancos filed the complaint after the game against RCD Espanyol as they believed Carlos Romero should have been sent off for a reckless challenge on Kylian Mbappe but was only shown a yellow card – a decision that affected the outcome of the game.

In light of the situation, Real Madrid decided to boycott the meeting with the RFEF, La Liga, other clubs and the Referees Association earlier today.

Referees backing out of Madrid derby duty

As reported earlier today, the governing bodies as well as majority of the Spanish clubs are fed up with Real Madrid and are seeking sanctions as they believe the Merengues are constantly trying to pressure referees.

Building on that, Adrian Sanchez now reports that several referees have refused to officiate this weekend’s La Liga encounter between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Real Madrid face Atletico Madrid this weekend. (Photo by Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images)

The report claims that this is not the first time that such a situation has risen, with referee assignments having had to be modified in the past.

Many clubs are understood to be ‘fed up’ by what they believe is a tactic from Real Madrid to put match officials under pressure. As such, it is not entirely ruled out that they move for action against the club.

This stance is pretty much along the lines of what La Liga president Javier Tebas said earlier today, when he lashed out at the Spanish champions over the issue.

“We are certainly going to file a complaint, just as we have filed a complaint against Real Madrid Television. We are going to see if the complaint is against the club, against the person who signed the letter, against the board of directors,” he said.

It will be interesting to see how Real Madrid respond to these fresh developments.