Javier Tebas, president of La Liga, rejected the idea that refereeing decisions were responsible for Real Madrid's 2-1 defeat by Atlético Madrid at the Metropolitano in the seventh round of the league. He also criticised the way the club and its manager José Mourinho protested against the referee and the video assistant referee team after the capital derby.
Tebas rejects linking defeat to refereeing decisions
Tebas told Spanish newspaper AS after the match that he understood Real Madrid's objections to some of referee Miguel Ángel Ortiz Arias's decisions, but did not accept the way those objections were presented. He added: “I understand the complaints, but not the way,” before insisting that Real Madrid “did not lose because of these incidents”.
The controversy intensified after Real Madrid called for two Atlético players to be sent off during the match, while Mourinho directly criticised the referee and the video assistant referee. Real Madrid's official channel also continued to criticise the officials' performance in its post-match coverage, focusing on decisions the club believed had affected the course and outcome of the match.
Tebas backs Dean Huijsen's sending-off
Tebas addressed the incidents that prompted Real Madrid's objections and deemed the red card shown to the team's defender Dean Huijsen correct. The league president therefore backed the decision to send the player off, at a time when part of the club's protests focused on the disciplinary decisions made by Ortiz Arias during the derby.
Assessing the Argentine Cristian Romero's challenge on Jude Bellingham, Tebas rejected the idea that the incident warranted a sending-off. He said Romero “got to the ball first”, and therefore did not believe his challenge merited a red card, contrary to Real Madrid's objections and its call for a harsher punishment for the Atlético player.
Tebas took a less decisive view of South Korean player Lee Kang-in's challenge on Federico Valverde, an incident for which the referee awarded a foul without showing a card. He said a red card would not have been an unexpected decision, but noted that the speed of the incident could explain why the referee did not take stronger action against the Atlético player.
Criticism of Real Madrid's channel and its pressure on referees
The league president extended his criticism to Real Madrid's official channel, which published a strongly worded piece against Ortiz Arias and the video assistant referee team after the defeat. The channel focused on incidents the club believed had changed the course of the match, continuing a type of coverage it has regularly broadcast in recent seasons about refereeing performances before and after the team's matches.
Tebas said La Liga had previously filed a complaint over the club channel's conduct, arguing that what happened after the derby meant it had to continue calling for ethical rules governing this type of coverage. He described such practices as “an unfair and harsh way of putting pressure on the referee”, reiterating his opposition to clubs using their media platforms to pressure refereeing teams.
Atlético Madrid joined the dispute through its official accounts, publishing a message that read: “Stop putting pressure on referees”, in reference to the protests that followed the match. Asked about Atlético's position, Tebas said he had not seen the post, but repeated his opposition to media pressure targeting referees after matches.
Mourinho steps up criticism of derby officials
Mourinho had intensified his criticism after the defeat, questioning Ortiz Arias's experience and his ability to officiate a match of the magnitude of the Madrid derby. He also objected to the appointment of Daniel Trujillo Suárez to work in the video assistant referee room, citing his previous decisions during Real Madrid matches as part of his criticism of the team assigned to oversee the game.
The dispute over refereeing decisions continued into the day after the match, before Tebas's comments shifted the argument from assessing incidents on the pitch to examining the way Real Madrid dealt with the refereeing institution.
The dispute comes amid recurring tension between the club's management and the president of La Liga over referees and the coverage Real Madrid's channel devotes to their performances.
