Over the last three years, Real Madrid have been very outspoken regarding the Negreira case, which remains a legal matter. Barcelona stand accused of sporting corruption after they made payments to former CTA vice-president Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira over a number of years, although they continue to deny any wrongdoing.
As part of the reaction to the case, Real Madrid TV have regularly referenced the case when discussing referees that officiate Los Blancos matches. But for one official in particular, he has had enough of this.
Speaking on the “Rogue Cast” podcast earlier this week (via Sport), VAR official Juan Luis Pulido Santana took aim at Real Madrid over their regular focus on referees on their official television channel.
“The entire group has been questioned without evidence. There has been no purchase of referees, that is very clear to me. (RMTV exists to) belittle the referees, and before the matches they are already telling you that the referee is going to harm Real Madrid. Controversy sells, and there are those who live for it.”
Pulido Santana punished by CTA following remarks
The CTA have acknowledged Pulido Santana’s remarks, and they have not gone down well there. As such, he was punished by being put “in the fridge”, as he has not been included in the VAR officiating team for any match this season, both in La Liga and Segunda.
It remains to be seen whether Real Madrid issue a response to Pulido Santana, who has attracted scrutiny in the past. If they do, the likelihood is that it would come through RMTV, but the channel’s regular on referees has attracted a lot of controversy in recent years, and it is no surprise that an active official has spoken out – it’s also not the first time, after the officiating for the 2024-25 Copa del Rey final also did so, which almost led Los Blancos to withdrawn from the competition just before they were due to face Barcelona.
