Spain’s refereeing authorities are preparing for twelve days of noise. The RFEF and La Liga have already drafted a contingency plan to shield officials from what both bodies expect to be a sustained campaign on Real Madrid TV and in the Spanish press before 25 October’s Clasico at Camp Nou, Goal.com’s Mohamed Mansi reported.

Inside the Technical Committee of Referees, the CTA, concern is just as loud. A committee source told Nacho Pérez of Spanish outlet Qué.es that the tone around every Real Madrid fixture has turned hostile and is expected to intensify over the next two weeks.

“In all levels of the refereeing collective there is concern about everything generated around all Real Madrid matches, in the club, in the stands and in the media,” the source said.

The Villarreal flashpoint

The current round of complaints began on Saturday at the Estadio de la Ceramica. Vinícius Júnior came on as a substitute, celebrated what he thought was Real Madrid’s second goal, then watched referee Isidro Díaz de Mera cancel it and show him a straight red card after a VAR review spotted him pulling the hair of Villarreal defender Nathan Saliba. Yan Diomande’s first-half strike held up for a 1-0 win.

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José Mourinho skipped the post-match press conference, leaving midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni to field the questions.

“I don’t know what’s going on with the referees, with this red card, I don’t understand, but the most important thing is the victory,” Tchouaméni told reporters.

Wednesday’s disciplinary meeting

Vinícius faces a two to three match ban under Article 130 of the federation’s disciplinary code, which treats off-the-ball violent conduct more harshly than a standard dismissal, per reporting from MadridXtra on the referee’s post-match report. The Competition Committee meets on Wednesday to classify the offence, and his protests on the pitch could push the sanction toward four matches.

Real Madrid plan to appeal any three-match ban back down to the minimum two, in part to preserve the forward’s availability for the fixture that follows the trip to Camp Nou.

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Iturralde questions the Madrid narrative

Former La Liga referee Iturralde González, speaking to Cadena SER and picked up by Barca Universal, framed the Madrid approach in blunt terms.

“They want to send a false narrative, to make their fans believe they’re being wronged and that everyone is against Real Madrid,” he said.

Iturralde added that the unresolved Negreira case, which concerns historic payments by Barcelona to a referees’ committee vice-president, was adding to the volume.

“With the Negreira issue unresolved, the noise is even greater. The Clasico is in two weeks, and we have a professional at creating tension like Mr. Mourinho.”

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Hernández Hernández has been reported as the leading candidate to referee the match, though the federation has not yet confirmed the appointment. Barcelona host Real Madrid at Camp Nou on Sunday 25 October, kick-off 9pm local time, with the Catalans leading La Liga.

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