Laporta accuses Real Madrid of decades long referee influence in explosive book claim
Barcelona President Joan Laporta has reignited debate over refereeing in Spain with allegations published in his new book, Així hem salvat el Barça, according to excerpts shared by Barca Xtra from the book’s launch event on February 23, 2026.
The remarks were not made during a press conference or interview. Instead, they appear in Laporta’s memoir, presented publicly earlier this week.
According to Barca Xtra, Laporta writes that for nearly seventy years, individuals linked to Real Madrid served as presidents of Spain’s referees’ committees. He claims those officials were responsible for appointing referees in La Liga and Copa del Rey matches during that period.
“It is worth highlighting that for more than seven decades, almost continuously, the presidents of the referees’ committees, under their different names, were linked to Real Madrid, whether as fans, former players, or former executives, and in some cases all three,” Laporta writes in the book.
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“In other words, for around seventy years, individuals connected to Real Madrid were responsible for appointing the referees in La Liga and Copa del Rey matches.
Without a doubt, this represents one of the biggest scandals in the history of Spanish football.”
Refereeing structure under scrutiny
In his account, Laporta argues that officials with ties to Real Madrid oversaw referee appointments in Spain’s top competitions for decades. He presents the issue as structural rather than isolated, suggesting that the system itself may have carried conflicts of interest.
Spain’s referees are overseen by the Technical Committee of Referees, which operates under the Royal Spanish Football Federation. Appointments to domestic competitions such as La Liga and the Copa del Rey are managed within that framework.
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Real Madrid and the Royal Spanish Football Federation did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the claims published in the book.
Evidence and oversight questions
The allegation spans nearly seventy years and, if substantiated, would represent a profound challenge to the credibility of Spanish football’s governance.
However, claims of systemic bias across multiple generations of administrators would require detailed documentation and independent verification. Assertions based on past affiliations alone are unlikely to resolve a debate of this scale.
In professional football governance, questions of integrity are typically examined through transparent records, regulatory review, and, where appropriate, external investigation. Whether Laporta provides documentary evidence beyond the statements published in Així hem salvat el Barça remains unclear based on the excerpts reported by Barca Xtra.
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Sources: Barca Xtra
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