The responses to the formal complaint of Real Madrid before the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and the Spanish Sports Council (CSD) with respect to the recent arbitration decisions have come quickly. In response to the strongly written letter from whites, the RFEF has issued an official statement that defends the integrity of its arbitration body while emphasizing continuous efforts to modernize the Spanish football trade.
RFEF statement
“We deeply regret the tone and seriousness of the accusations that question the integrity of the arbitration bodies and the functioning of the competition as a whole,” reads the statement. “We understand that, in the development of professional football, there may be discrepancies regarding certain decisions, but we trust that all parties will act with the responsibility and respect required by the highest level of our sport.
“The constantly delegitimation of arbitration work outside the established channels generates a climate of distrust that does not benefit Spanish football or its competitions,” the statement continued. “Constructive criticism is always welcome and necessary for continuous improvement, but it must be carried out within the established frameworks and with the respect required by all parties that make up our sport.
Javier Tebas response
The president of LaLiga and vice president of RFEF, Javier Tebas, also intervened in the controversy:
“I was not surprised at all the Real Madrid letter, since it says nothing different from what its television channel has been repeating for some time,” said Thebes. “Many of us advocate a radical change in the arbitration system, approaching the English or German model, with a completely different and much more transparency organization in all the structural decisions of Spanish arbitration.
What is really surprising is that, at a LaLiga meeting on April 19, 2023, we discuss and even vote on this change, and Real Madrid opposed it, looking lukewarm and without proposing solutions, ”he said. “Could it have something to do with the fact that, at that time, Rubiales was the president of the RFEF and Florentino Pérez was a member of the RFEF Board of Directors?
“By the way, when it comes to ‘corrupt systems’, there are few lessons to learn. And I don’t mean Real Madrid as an institution “,