Real Madrid president was seen greeting the referees before El Clasico kickoff – report

Barcelona’s feud with the refereeing in La Liga is not baseless. After all, blatant errors from the referees have cost the Catalans many a point this season.

The latest example of the same was in the recent El Clasico at Santiago Bernabeu where the match-officials continually produced judgements against Barcelona.

Lamine Yamal’s disallowed goal, Eduardo Camavinga’s dangerous foul that went without a red card and the soft penalty call against Pau Cubarsi are just a few of the decisions that went against Barcelona on the night.

Florentino Perez and the referees: More than appears to the eye?

As revealed in a recent report by Mundo Deportivo, a peculiar incident occurred in the buildup to kickoff on the night at the Bernabeu.

The Spanish outlet reveals that Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, who arrived in the players’ tunnel to motivate his team, was also seen personally greeting the referee on the night, Cesar Soto Grado and his assistants.

Florentino Perez and Joan Laporta during the Clasico. (Photo by THOMAS COEX/AFP via Getty Images)

Perez was not alone in his interaction with the match official but was accompanied by Carlos Megia Davila, arbitration advisor of Madrid and Miguel Angel Perez Lasa, an informant of the RFEF.

The queer factor

Real Madrid have enjoyed an extensive and public feud with referees this season on their media channel – Real Madrid TV.

The club’s media division has regularly come out with videos and visuals targeting referees for their mistakes against Los Blancos, and they furthered a similar post on Soto Grado just two days ahead of kickoff.

For Perez to cordially greet the referee after such a development on the field is indeed queer.

At Barcelona, they believe that the more Los Blancos stir the referees, the more docile they are with them while Barcelona bear the brunt of their mistakes.