La Liga President Javier Tebas has for the first time declared that action will be taken against Real Madrid TV for their constant criticism of referees, creating a highly pressurised environment for officials. Hit videos against every referee that takes charge of a Real Madrid game ahead of the match have become not only the custom for RMTV, but also a highly controversial topic of conversation this season.
Tebas told MD that the rights to the TV images of La Liga, are a publicly awarded, and that they were looking into the matter.
“The channel is a public concession. I am sure that it was granted assuming that they would respect the values of sport. The conditions of the rights must be reviewed. La Liga is beginning to take action against the videos.”
“Can you imagine a video of the referees created by Barca and the rest of the clubs following? We would destroy football. It is evident that we cannot continue down this road,” concluded Tebas, aware of the magnitude and power in Spain of the Madrid entity: “Nobody sticks their neck out about the videos because of what Real Madrid are in this country. They command respect. The referees have enough with the Negreira case. I have been president for ten years and having Florentino in front of you every day, it is not comfortable.”
It’s been conversation that has dominated recent months, as refereeing performances come under more and more scrutiny, especially with the release of the audio from VAR interventions. Increasingly the frustration with referees is universal, and not just limited to a perceived agenda between the big two, but unanimously, Real Madrid TV have been condemned elsewhere.