Barcelona vice president takes sly dig at Real Madrid ahead of crucial RFEF meeting | OneFootball

Real Madrid’s open attack on the refereeing association in Spain has been well documented, with the Spanish giants notably releasing a four-page complaint to RFEF and CSD.

The controversy began after Real Madrid launched a scathing attack on the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) following their contentious 2-1 defeat against Espanyol.

Los Blancos were furious that Espanyol’s Carlos Romero was not shown a red card for a dangerous tackle on Kylian Mbappe in the 60th minute—a decision they claim changed the outcome of the game.

In the midst of Real Madrid’s open war with the refereeing associations, Barcelona have largely remained silent, opting not to add more fuel to the fire.

Rafa Yuste’s dig at Real Madrid

However, the entire saga has taken an interesting turn lately, as Barcelona vice president Rafa Yuste has launched a veiled dig at Real Madrid in the lead-up to a crucial meeting organised by RFEF, reports Mundo Deportivo.

Real Madrid are in an open war with the referees in Spain (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

With tensions running high, RFEF scheduled a meeting between clubs and referees to address the growing concerns over officiating standards in Spanish football.

However, Real Madrid notably refused to attend, standing firm in their protest against the refereeing body.

It was in this context that Barcelona’s vice president, Rafa Yuste, took the opportunity to make a pointed remark about Madrid’s absence.

“Here we are with colleagues from all over Spain and we are happy to be together. We are here to form a group and unite all the teams in Spain as much as possible,” Yuste stated before entering the meeting.

While not mentioning Real Madrid directly, the remark was definitely a dig at Los Blancos for not attending this crucial meeting.

On an official level, though, Barcelona have remained silent on the matter and are likely to continue this strategy, knowing they cannot afford to spark any controversy with Real Madrid at this crucial juncture.