Real Madrid has denied suggestions that they could boycott's Copa del Rey -Final against Barcelona after a remarkable spit between the club and the referee who was appointed before the match.
On Friday, preparations for the final were thrown into unrest when Madrid accused the competition officials of having “hostility and hostility” towards them.
Madrid refused to carry out pre-match media activities after the competition referee, Ricardo de Burgos BergoetXea, gave an emotional press conference in which he called the club to criticize him on their internal TV channel.
The official went out in tears when he spoke with reporters about a video produced by the club that was critical of his past performances.
The Burgos said: “When a child arrives at school and his friends tell him that his father is a thief, it makes you sick.
“What I do is try to inform my son to tell him that his father is an honest man, that he makes mistakes like any other sportsman. It's very difficult, I don't recommend it to anyone.
“It's not good, what we go through, for many colleagues … Let everyone think about where we want to go, what we want from sports and football.”
Madrid praised the controversy several times this season with their treatment of competition officials, even when the club wrote a letter of complaints to the Spanish FA (RFEF) in February and claimed that decisions were “rigged” against them.
The widespread abuse aimed at Jose Munuera Montero after he had shown Jude Bellingham a red card for deviating opinions in the 1-1 draw of February with Osasuna in Laliga, in the meantime was described as “repellent” by the RFEF.
In the aftermath of the press conference of the Burgos, in which Var Official Pablo Gonzalez Fuertes also suggested that Spanish referees could go strike, Madrid claimed that the officials “had shown a clear and manifest hostility and hostility against Real Madrid.”
“Given the seriousness of what happened, Real Madrid hopes that those responsible for the RFEF and the Referee Committee will act accordingly, taking the corresponding measures to defend the prestige of the institutions they represent,” the club added.
New official statement.
– Real Madrid CF (@Realmadriden) April 25, 2025
Later on Friday, Madrid denied reports that they were considering withdrawing from the final, although they had said earlier that the referee team had to be changed.
The club said: “In the light of rumors that have emerged in the last few hours, Real Madrid CF communicates that our team has never considered playing the final of tomorrow.
“Our club understands that the unfortunate and inappropriate statements of the referees mentioned for this match, 24 hours before the final, cannot affect a worldwide interest sporting event that hundreds of millions of people will be viewed.
“This is also done out of respect for all fans who are planning to travel to Seville, and for everyone who is already in the Andalusian capital.
“Real Madrid understands that the values ​​of football must prevail, despite the hostility and hostility that has been shown against our club today, by the referees who were appointed for the final.”
Barcelona coach Hansi Flick was asked on Friday about the line at his press conference for the match and called on everyone who was involved in football to do more to protect referees.
He said: “For me it is just a sport. It's just a game. It's just football.
“It is our responsibility to not only protect the players, but also all the people involved in the game.”