Real Madrid officials met with Spanish refereeing body CTA at the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) headquarters on Monday to listen to the audio files from the video assistant referee (VAR) of their recent La Liga match against Espanyol.
Madrid were angered by a decision from on-field referee Alejandro Muniz Ruiz to show Espanyol defender Carlos Romero a yellow card for a 60th-minute challenge on Kylian Mbappe that was not overturned by VAR official Javier Iglesias Villanueva. Romero went on to score the game’s only goal on February 1.
The club’s indignation led to them sending an official communication to RFEF president Rafael Louzan and the Spanish government’s High Sports Council (CSD) in which they requested to hear the VAR audio.
Madrid had the opportunity t0 listen to the audio from the VAR officials throughout the match and their communication with the on-field referee, while they would also have the opportunity to hear other dialogue throughout the game.
Madrid were represented by their club CEO Jose Angel Sanchez and secretary of the board Jose Luis del Valle at Monday’s meeting.
CTA president Medina Cantalejo described the meeting as “very cordial” and “very transparent”, and added: “We are always open to explaining the decisions.”
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VAR audio tapes from La Liga matches are available to all participating clubs and it is not unusual for club executives to meet referees each week at Las Rozas, the headquarters of the RFEF.
This was, however, the first time that Madrid officials had attended such a meeting and the club opted to not go to an extraordinary meeting of La Liga and Segunda Division teams earlier this month to address recent refereeing issues.
Madrid’s refusal to attend the meeting came immediately after the 1-0 defeat at Espanyol in which they requested the “immediate submission of VAR audio” from the match due to their unhappiness at several refereeing decisions.
The club’s request of having the audio sent to them was rejected on the grounds that it could be manipulated, but they would be allowed to listen to them at the RFEF headquarters.
Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti also criticised the decision not to send off Espanyol’s Romero in his post-game news conference. “The decision made by the referee and the VAR is inexplicable,” Ancelotti said. “Everyone saw it. The most important thing is to watch and protect the player, fortunately, nothing happened.”
Madrid have subsequently felt hard done by officiating decisions in subsequent La Liga matches. In the 1-1 draw against Atletico Madrid on February 8, when referee Cesar Soto Grado judged that Aurelien Tchouameni had stepped on Samuel Lino in the 18-yard box in the 35th minute, with Antoine Griezmann scoring the resulting penalty.
On Saturday, Jude Bellingham was sent off in controversial circumstances in Madrid’s 1-1 away draw against Osasuna for swearing towards referee Jose Luis Munuera Montero, while Eduardo Camavinga conceded a penalty in the 57th minute in an incident which led to the equaliser.
Madrid are top of La Liga but will be overtaken by Barcelona should they defeat Rayo Vallecano on Monday night, courtesy of the Catalan’s superior head-to-head record.
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