Xavi Hernández Condemns Real Madrid’s Influence on Refereeing Through TV Channel

Xavi Hernández’s press conference ahead of Saturday’s visit to Mendizorroza (18:30 hours) has been dominated by comments made by Barcelona’s President, Joan Laporta, in a recent interview with RAC-1. One of the major headlines from the Blaugrana president is regarding the pressure exerted by Real Madrid on match officials through their official television channel, Real Madrid TV.

Laporta characterized Madrid TV’s behavior as “a disgrace” and expressed bewilderment that neither the Technical Committee of Referees nor the RFEF (Spanish Football Federation) has taken action. This isn’t the first time the Barcelona president has raised this issue; after the controversial VAR decisions in the Real Madrid-Almería match, Laporta stated that the competition was compromised. “I already said I don’t like referees being influenced, but they keep doing it every week,” reiterated Xavi about Real Madrid TV’s videos. “The referees will whistle under influence. The ‘Negreira case’ didn’t help us either, but we have to compete with it. I fully share the president’s words. It’s a reality, and we can’t deceive Barcelona fans.”

Barça’s coach once again called on the RFEF and LaLiga to address the issue: “I’m not the president of the Federation or the president of the League, but I’m hugely surprised that we allow this situation because it completely alters the competition. It happens week after week.”

Xavi referred to recent statements by Atlético’s coach, Diego Pablo Simeone, who, after hearing audio recordings of conversations between referees and VAR, highlighted that decisions from the VAR room consistently favor one direction: “What is happening is evident even to the blind. Cholo Simeone said it the other day; we are not fools. Everyone is seeing it, but it’s the media that has to say it.”