Hours before the much-anticipated final match in the Copa del Rey tournament featuring Real Madrid facing off against FC Barcelona, Madrid roughed up the officiating team for allegedly targeting them, claiming their utterances in a pre-match interview were uncouth.

“Real Madrid CF considers the public statements made today by the referees designated for the Copa del Rey final scheduled for tomorrow to be unacceptable,” read a statement by the club.
The LaLiga giants said they were drawn to videos surfacing online of referees allegedly tarnishing their image, which, according to them, demonstrated animosity and hostility towards the club.

According to Madrid, the move by the referees to rally up and announce stricter measures for the match showed their heinous intentions to infiltrate the game.

They alleged that the move fell short of universal principles in the world of football — including fairness, objectivity, and impartiality — which should prevail just hours before a football match that attracts hundreds of millions of people across the globe.

With these concerns at hand, Real Madrid called for dire changes to the match officials, pleading with the governing body to consider their grievances before the match and hinting at boycotting if their concerns were not addressed.

“Given the seriousness of what happened, Real Madrid hopes that those responsible for the RFEF and the refereeing body will act accordingly, adopting all the necessary measures to defend the prestige of the institutions they represent,” the statement further indicated.

Commenting on Real Madrid’s allegations, LaLiga president Javier Tebas said Madrid was grandstanding and wanted to continue humiliating referees as they had done in the past, claiming the unity shown by the referees is what Madrid fears.

“They do not want to move forward with the referees’ reform because it is not what he (Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez) wants. He skips training at La Cartuja, doesn’t attend the official acts of the Cup final, and leaks that he will not be present at the Copa final,” Tebas said.

On the other hand, their rivals Barcelona believe the move was merely a tactical strategy to mount pressure on the referees. Atletico Madrid condemned Madrid for undermining the federation.

“This is unacceptable. Stop tarnishing the image of Spanish football,” Atletico Madrid stated.

The match is set to take place today, April 26, at 11:00 PM at the Estadio de La Cartuja.