Barcelona, Spain — Javier Tebas, the president of La Liga, strongly criticized Real Madrid on Thursday, expressing disbelief at the club’s claims of bias among Spanish referees against them. He described the leadership of Madrid as having “lost its mind” following their allegation that the league is favoring other teams, which they expressed in an open letter earlier this week.

Tebas indicated that La Liga might pursue legal action regarding the letter, which accused the league of being “adulterated.” He stated to the press, “What they have constructed is an exaggerated narrative of victimization, which is entirely unfounded. In my view, it aims to sabotage the integrity of the competition. It’s utterly excessive. They have lost their minds.”

This exchange arose shortly after Real Madrid suffered a 1-0 defeat against Espanyol, a match where they felt the refereeing had significantly impacted the result. The club’s major grievance centered around a tackle on Kylian Mbappé by Carlos Romero, the defender from Espanyol, in the 60th minute. Although Romero received a yellow card, Real Madrid argued he should have been shown a red card and sent off. The same defender later scored the decisive goal for Espanyol.

Following a VAR review, referees determined that the yellow card was sufficient. In the four-page letter issued by Madrid, officials described the performance of the VAR and the match officials as “scandalous.” The letter claimed that the refereeing from the game against Espanyol highlighted the “culmination of a thoroughly discredited refereeing system,” asserting that the decisions made against Real Madrid indicate blatant manipulation of the competition.

Additionally, Madrid published a four-minute video on their official website, titled “The global scandal continues to escalate,” which included footage of Romero’s foul on Mbappé, as well as various media quotes suggesting it warranted a red card.

Tebas reproached Real Madrid’s club television for frequently airing segments that allegedly showcase instances of referees making unfavorable calls against them. He accused Real Madrid TV of labeling referees as “corrupt.”

Last season, Real Madrid secured their 36th Spanish league title and a record 15th European Cup. Currently, they sit at the top of La Liga, holding a narrow one-point lead ahead of second-placed Atletico Madrid, with a significant match set for Saturday.

Supporters of rival teams, along with many neutral observers, have found Real Madrid’s claims of ongoing referee bias quite confusing. Atletico’s Antoine Griezmann commented, “It’s just silly. We need to leave the referees alone. They already have enough to manage with the players, and adding this nonsense from outside the pitch is just unnecessary.”