Arbeloa slams referee, Real Madrid break up with Spanish football after Girona draw

Real Madrid’s head coach, Álvaro Arbeloa, has launched a scathing attack on Spanish officiating following the damaging 1-1 draw against Girona at the Santiago Bernabéu on Friday night.

The result effectively derailed the club's LALIGA title defence, as it hands Barcelona the opportunity to open a nine-point lead with seven games to go. Hence, the fallout has been polemic. 

The Real Madrid head coach zeroed in on a controversial moment from the game, which came in the 87th minute when Kylian Mbappé was caught in the face by a stray arm from Girona defender Vitor Reis inside the penalty area.

 Despite the French forward being left visibly bloodied, referee Alberola Rojas dismissed the appeals, and neither was he called to the VAR monitor for review. 

Arbeloa denounced the non-call in his post-match press conference, describing it as the latest entry in a trend of unfavourable refereeing decisions against the club of his life.

“For me, it’s a penalty here and on the moon. And… well, it’s just another one. Another one, another week. It is what it is,” he said, per Diario AS.

“I don’t understand it myself, and I don’t think anyone does. When does VAR come in? I imagine it’s when it’s convenient, and when it’s not, well, it doesn’t. 

“It’s something that… well, as I said yesterday, you already know my opinion. And these events really confirm it. It’s a clear-cut case, in my opinion. 

“They called a foul on Kylian in the first half that, well, in my opinion, was less serious than a penalty. That’s it. We’ve had so many problems with referees. With this one… last week in Mallorca… well… (pause and half-smile), the same old story.”

The fallout from the Girona draw has further escalated, with reports claiming that Real Madrid has severed all diplomatic ties with the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) in protest of the "systemic bias" within the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA). 

The move follows a series of aggressive broadcasts by Real Madrid TV, which officially labelled the current competition as "rigged" and "adulterated" due to the ongoing fallout from the Negreira affair, and perceived bias against the club by officials.