On Friday, Real Madrid accused the match referees of having ‘animosity and hostility’ towards them and demanded that the Spanish FA take action, throwing the Copa del Rey final preparations into disarray.

After the match referee called out the club for criticizing him on their in-house TV station during an emotional news conference, Real Madrid skipped pre-match festivities ahead of Saturday’s final versus Barcelona.

Real Madrid’s ‘extraordinary amazement’ at the press conference held earlier on Friday by referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea prompted the club to decide to cancel their pre-match commitments, a club source told Reuters. When reacting to a critical footage released by RMTV, the referee had started crying.

The insider stated that Real viewed the news conference as ‘a blatant conflict of interest’ and that they thought the refereeing team should be replaced, even though they hadn’t requested that the Spanish FA (RFEF) replace the officials.

Later on Friday, Real Madrid released a statement in which they claimed that the match referees had a “clear and manifest animosity and hostility… against Real Madrid” and supported RMTV as “protected by freedom of expression.”

The club also stated, “Real Madrid hopes that those in charge of the Refereeing Committee and the RFEF will act accordingly, adopting the corresponding measures in defense of the prestige of the institutions they represent, given the seriousness of what has happened.”

RFEF president Rafael Louzan called for “calm, responsibility, and common sense” from everyone involved, but he did not comment on Real’s comments or whether they would switch the referees for the final.

A few hours later, the club reiterated that they “never considered” pulling out of the match.

“Real Madrid CF declares that our team has never contemplated pulling out of today’s final, despite the rumors that have surfaced in the last few hours,” the statement started.

“Out of respect for all the fans who are already in the Andalusian capital and for all the fans who are planning to travel to Seville, our club recognizes that the regrettable and unsuitable remarks made by the referees assigned to this match, 24 hours prior to the final, cannot taint a sporting event of global significance that will be watched by hundreds of millions of people.”

Real Madrid feels that football principles must win out, even though the referees chosen for the final today have shown their hatred and prejudice toward our team once more.

According to RMTV, the footage, which was made public on Thursday, revealed a slew of mistakes De Burgos made during his tenure. The publication was the most recent in a series of RMTV edits that criticized Spanish authorities.

“It makes you sick when a child comes to school and his friends tell him that his father is a thief,” De Burgos said during the news conference, expressing his concern.

He continued by highlighting his honesty and the difficulties that many football officials, both at the professional and amateur levels, experience.

I make an effort to teach my son that his father is a good man and that, like all athletes, he makes mistakes. I wouldn’t suggest it to anyone since it’s really difficult.

“What we are going through for many of our colleagues is wrong.” Let’s all think about our goals and what we hope to get out of football and sports.

The VAR official for Saturday’s final, Pablo Gonzalez Fuertes, who was sat next to De Burgos, stated that referees would soon act because of the constant pressure they were under.

“You all will see in a few days,” he remarked. “We will not tolerate what we are enduring any longer; we are going to make history.” A blow? We will provide you more updates shortly.

In their initial statement, Real said that Fuertes’ remarks were “far removed from the principles of fairness, objectivity, and impartiality that should prevail just a few hours before a football event” and that they had been expressed “in a threatening tone.”

Hansi Flick, the manager of Barcelona, stated on Friday that measures should be implemented to safeguard referees.

It’s just a sport to me. It’s only a game. It’s just football. “We have an obligation to safeguard not just the players but everyone who participates in the game,” Flick stated during a press conference.

The RFEF brought attention to referees’ worries about abuse in February, highlighting the case of Jose Munuera Montero, an official who received criticism for sending Jude Bellingham of Real Madrid off the field.

Following their 1-0 loss to Espanyol a few weeks prior, Real had also filed a letter of complaint against the Spanish referees.