Real Madrid referee report: La Liga giants to submit writeup to FIFA about supposed officiating bias

As one of the biggest clubs in the world, everything Real Madrid say and do is closely watched by football fans all around the globe.

For a number of months, if not years, Real Madrid have complained repeatedly about a supposed officiating bias against the club. Each time a decision goes against Madrid, the club comes out hard against the league and its officials for supposedly treating them unfairly.

This has created a division between the club, the league, and the officials, and has made refereeing Real Madrid matches increasingly difficult for the individual with the whistle. Sceptics might argue that this is likely the point.

The Sporting News explains the latest incident, which stems from another questionable on-field decision that put Los Blancos in a difficult spot.

MORE: An updated list of the La Liga top goal scorers for the 2025/26 season

Real Madrid to submit refereeing complaint to FIFA

Real Madrid are preparing to submit a comprehensive report to FIFA, purportedly to explain "what is happening in Spanish football with regard to refereeing," the club confirmed in an announcement on their official social media channel.

The announcement was made immediately following Madrid's 2-1 victory at Real Sociedad on September 13, where a controversial decision went against the visitors at the Anoeta.

Defender Dean Huijsen was sent off for a last-man foul just after the half-hour, leaving Madrid down a man for the final hour of the match. The decision was controversial because the foul, which occurred just beyond the halfway line on the Sociedad right flank, happened while Eder Militao was located level with Huijsen in a central position and appeared able to assist defensively. Thus, the determination that Huijsen's foul denied a clear goalscoring opportunity was highly debatable.

"Real Madrid is preparing a report with everything that has happened in these first four rounds of La Liga and what happened last season," said the announcement.

"A dossier, that report, which is going to be submitted to FIFA so that they take good note of what is happening in Spanish football with regard to refereeing."

What will be in the Real Madrid refereeing report to FIFA?

It's unclear exactly what this report will entail, but it's likely that Real Madrid will compile a number of perceived poor refereeing decisions that have gone against them over the past year to somehow suggest either a lack of quality in Spanish football refereeing, a perceived bias against Real Madrid, or both.

Clearly, Real Madrid believe they have been the target of refereeing bias, as this is far from their first attempt to speak out against what they feel is a targeted effort to harm their on-field results.

Four days before the Real Sociedad match, Real Madrid TV released a video backed by ominous music that claimed to have statistical evidence that recent decisions have been skewed in favour of Barcelona and Atletico Madrid and against them.

🔥 Nuevo vídeo de Real Madrid TV cargando contra el arbitraje por la diferencia de saldo arbitral con el Barça pic.twitter.com/486uzEvqPH

The most notable number that the channel pointed to was a claim that Barcelona's opponents commit 3.4 fouls per yellow card shown, while Real Madrid's opponents commit 13.4 fouls per yellow card. Meanwhile, Barcelona average 11 fouls per yellow card, while Real Madrid average 7.3.

"Something very suspicious happened last season in terms of refereeing," the video claims.

Back in April, the club controversially released a video prior to a Copa del Rey match that claimed to reveal supposed bias against assigned match referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoechea. This angered both Copa del Rey officials and the referee himself, who spoke about it after the match while holding back tears.

"To see your son come from school crying because some kids have said his dad is a crook is very hard to take," an emotional De Burgos said.

Back in February, La Liga president Javier Tebas claimed he would take action against Real Madrid after the club released a video that claimed the "Spanish officiating system is completely biased" and the league suffered from "a web of conflicting interests" which was "maintained and protected by the Spanish federation."

Tebas responded to this by saying the club "has lost their mind." The league filed a complaint with the Spanish federation's disciplinary committee, and while the proceedings were closed without action taken, a Spanish court ordered the case reopened this past summer.