Real Madrid Slammed For Criticism Of Spanish Soccer’s VAR Chief, Carlos Clos Gomez

There has been a strong reaction to a controversial segment on Real Madrid’s official television station last week which included a series of digs against Spanish soccer’s manager of the VAR project, Carlos Clos Gómez, reflecting on his 11-year stint as a top-flight referee.

Clos Gómez retired from refereeing in 2017 and has since taken up the role of Director of VAR for the Spanish Football Federation’s Referees Technical Committee.

However, his time on the field has not been forgotten. “Real Madrid fans haven’t forgotten that, because he became a real nightmare,” the video on Real Madrid TV indicated, as it ran through a series of statistics and video clips to highlight incidents where they believe that Clos Gómez made controversial calls against Los Blancos.

Among the statistics highlighted is his record of 20 Real Madrid wins (58.82%), seven draws and seven defeats with 102 yellow cards and eight red cards. They also point to the fact that UEFA and FIFA did not call upon him for European Championships, World Cups or the Champions League as a first official.

It is not the first time that the club has charged against Clos Gómez. In 2010, then coach Jose Mourinho went to a press conference with a list of 13 mistakes made by the official.

Strong defence from colleagues

Among those to criticize the video was Edu Iturralde González, who refereed alongside Clos Gómez for six years between 2006 and 2012. Now, he is a commentator for Carrusel Deportivo on Cadena SER, where he was asked about the video.

“That is the great fallacy that is being installed in public opinion because Enríquez Negreira had no power or influence over referees and now he has unfortunately come out because some write press releases and others, instead of using press releases, use their television, such as Real Madrid TV, in a report on Clos Gómez that is unworthy of a club that claims to be the best club in the world,” Iturralde González ranted.

“The report that has come out about Clos Gómez is shabby, it’s indecent. I’d put my hand in the fire for Clos Gómez, but not for the person who made the report, because the person who did it is a sell-out to his boss,” Iturralde continued. “Clos Gómez is a person of integrity who has been wrong 1,000, 2,000, 5,000 times against and in favour of Real Madrid and only his mistakes have been brought out. And they have only brought out his mistakes when the public prosecutor’s office has filed the lawsuit. What Real Madrid TV has done is a scandal.”

Real Madrid’s response to the Negreira case

This comes in the wider context of Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez calling an emergency board meeting on Sunday to discuss the club’s stance regarding the ongoing case relating Barcelona to alleged offenses of corruption in sport with payments which the club are accused of making to former vice-president of the Referees Technical Committee, José María Enríquez Negreira

“Real Madrid wishes to express its utmost concern regarding the gravity of the facts and reiterates its confidence in the legal system,” a statement shared after the board meeting said. “The club has agreed that, in defence of its legitimate rights, it will appear at the trial when the judge opens it up to the affected parties.”

Many believe that the segment on Real Madrid TV is related to the ongoing accusations against Barcelona, bringing up bad memories for their fans with a key figure in the current refereeing structure of Spanish soccer.