FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta criticised Real Madrid following their controversial win against Almeria at the Santiago Bernabeu during the weekend by calling it “a disgrace”.
Los Blancos were two goals down when a Jude Bellingham penalty and Vinicius Junior’s controversial goal put them level against the visitors. The home side then snatched victory with Dani Carvajal scoring a late winner, securing Madrid’s position at the top of the league table.
Not just Bellingham was awarded a penalty after VAR (Video Assistant Referee) intervention and Vinicius’ goal stood, but Almeria’s third goal when the scoreline was 2-1 in their favour was ruled out as well.
The game was widely slammed by Spanish fans, and Madrid’s arch-rivals Barcelona didn’t miss the opportunity to hit out at the rivals.
From head coach Xavi Hernandez to the officials inside the board, everyone had their say on the Whites’ controversial win. Laporta went as far as declaring what happened at the Bernabeu was a “disgrace”.
“What happened (in Madrid) was a disgrace,” Laporta said. “The refereeing collective has to respond to the pressures that are occurring this season. If they don’t do it, it will leave us very uneasy because it is a neglection of duties.
“Every day we are stronger. Due to referee decisions we have not been able to cut points. I am optimistic this season. The team improves and is united.”
Laporta then added Barcelona have not been able to compete with Madrid this season due to the referee’s biased performances this season.
“We, for our part, are happy to win. We have players of excellent quality; I am very optimistic, we will have our reward and the rest of the rivals will stumble like we did. What we are doing is working day by day to win all the competitions,” he stated.
It is worth mentioning that Barcelona are under investigation for making payments to the Technical Committee of Referees' ex-Vice President, Jose Maria Enrique Negreira as they were charged with "continuous corruption in the sports field" in 2023.
According to Spanish news outlet El Mundo, Barca paid Negreira an amount approaching €7 million ($7.5 million) from 2001 to 2018.