Disciplinary proceedings to be opened against Real Madrid for corruption letter | OneFootball

Real Madrid have been virulent in their campaign against Spanish referees over the last two years, but in February, that campaign was kicked up a notch. After a match against Espanyol in which Carlos Romero controversially avoided a sending off for a lunge on Kylian Mbappe, and then went on to score the winner, Los Blancos responded with a letter to the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF).

While many clubs have been vocal and frustrated by the refereeing in recent months and years, with the likes of Real Sociedad and Alaves recently using official club channels to complain about the officiating, the difference with Real Madrid was the deliberate description of the refereeing system as corrupt and manipulated against them, rather than ‘just’ negligent. Los Blancos also claimed that it was down to officials that they had lost out on certain trophies too.

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Two weeks ago La Liga, as forewarned by its president Javier Tebas, submitted a formal complaint about Real Madrid for their letter, and now Cadena Cope report that the Disciplinary Committee are set to open an investigation into the matter. They will then have a period of six weeks to two months in which to deliver a verdict and recommend a sanction for Real Madrid if they see fit.

The Disciplinary Committee would then decide whether to apply that sanction, although it tends to be the case that they would do so if recommended. It is not yet clear exactly how serious or what form the sanction could take. Punishment could also apply to Real Madrid themselves, or the board of directors that were behind the letter.

This comes hot off the heels of Olympique Marseille President Pablo Longoria accusing referees of being corrupt in Ligue 1. However after the refereeing body threatened to sue for legal action, Longoria has since retracted his statements.