Historic Snub by Real Madrid Following Their Monumental Discontent with Referees

Real Madrid's monumental discontent following the words of Ricardo De Burgos Bengoetxea and Pablo González Fuertes against the pressures exerted by Real Madrid Television disrupted the lead-up to the Copa del Rey final to be held this Saturday at La Cartuja Stadium. Such was the anger provoked by the complaints of the referee appointed to officiate the match and the official designated for VAR duties in the said duel that the Chamartín club decided to cancel its attendance at the institutional events planned for the match against Barça and also did not attend the scheduled press conference where Carlo Ancelotti and Luka Modric were to provide their analyses ahead of the big clash. An unprecedented snub that caused a stir in Seville.

After De Burgos Bengoetxea lashed out against the attacks and pressures from Real Madrid TV and González Fuertes announced the adoption of "historic measures" by the group as a result of what they consider a genuine witch hunt against the establishment to which they belong, Real Madrid suggested to the Spanish Football Federation (FEF) that both the referee from the Basque Committee and the referee from the Asturian Committee be removed, as their impartiality had been called into question by their words. However, the Technical Committee of Referees closed ranks with both, and in view of this, the club presided over by Florentino Pérez took their complaint to another level.

In a move reminiscent of the snub made last October when they decided not to attend the Ballon d'Or ceremony after learning that Vinicius would not be the winner, Real Madrid gave the slip to the FEF by cancelling the training session that Carlo Ancelotti's team was supposed to conduct at La Cartuja Stadium and also did not show up at the press conference where the Italian strategist was to share his thoughts on the match, as his Barça counterpart, Hansi Flick, had done shortly before, in a room where Ronald Araujo also appeared as Barça's captain.

The snub by the whites did not stop there. Ancelotti also did not take the official photo with Hansi Flick, which is customary on the eve of Copa finals, and the club also cancelled its attendance at the dinner that the FEF had scheduled for 21:00 hours at the Real Alcazar of Seville with the participation of Barça directors, the FEF, and other guests.