Barcelona’s 2-0 win over Las Palmas on Saturday reignited the debate over La Liga officiating after 17-year-old Lamine Yamal suffered a challenge that left his foot bloodied. Despite the injury, the referee allowed play to continue.
Yamal later posted a photo of his injured foot on Instagram with the caption, “No foul!” The image went viral, fuelling frustration over what many see as La Liga’s failing officiating standards.
“In what universe is that not a foul?” one user wrote on X.
But another took a jab at Yamal’s past defence of referees, quoting his own words back at him: “No but I’ve been told ‘we have to trust the referees, we have to protect them, they are human beings too, everyone makes mistakes.’”
“The ref’s Spanish passport would’ve been gone if this happened to a Madrid player,” one fan said, hinting at the alleged favouritism towards Real Madrid.
Another user wrote, “It’s a Barcelona thing to be this hypocritical.”
Barcelona is not the only club frustrated with referees. Real Madrid has also had disputes over officiating decisions.
Madrid’s ongoing feud with La Liga’s referees began during their 1-0 defeat to Espanyol on February 2.
Carlos Romero scored the winning goal, but many Madridistas believe that the referee should have sent him off for a foul on Kylian Mbappé when the match was goalless.
Real Madrid sent a formal complaint to the Spanish FA, alleging referee bias against the club.
Then, during Madrid’s La Liga clash against Osasuna at El Sadar on February 15, referee Monuera Montero showed Jude Bellingham a red card in the 39th minute for allegedly abusing him.
After the game, fans subjected Montero to online abuse and threats, prompting the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) to issue a statement condemning the referee’s treatment.
Following the Osasuna match, Yamal defended La Liga referees in an interview with the sports newspaper Mundo Deportivo.
Speaking ahead of Madrid’s Champions League second-leg tie against Manchester City, Carlo Ancelotti highlighted the stark contrast between officiating in La Liga and the Champions League." Ancelotti claimed that there was “less controversy and fewer VAR interventions” with Champions League officials.
Controversy over officiating in La Liga is not new. In March 2023, reports revealed that Barcelona had paid millions of euros to possibly benefit from refereeing decisions for more than a decade by paying a company that belonged to the vice president of the country’s refereeing committee.
In early 2024, Spain’s refereeing body stated that "no team in the world" pressures referees like Real Madrid, criticizing the club’s television channel for airing videos highlighting controversial decisions before matches, according to ESPN.