Article by Aurelian Botezatu – Published Sunday, April 26, 2026, 12:51 / Updated Sunday, April 26, 2026 12:55
The Referees Organization of Spain is ready to take action against the show “El Chiringuito de Jugones” for what happened during the live broadcast of the match Betis – real madrid (1-1).
AESAF, the Spanish Football Referees Association, issued a strong message on social media under the slogan “Enough! Respect!”. The reaction came after Real Madrid coach Alvaro Arbeloa again complained about the refereeing at the end of the match against Betis.
The Union of Referees in Spain, protest against the show “El Chiringuito de Jugones”
But it is not aimed at him, Real or the club's television station, RMTV, which is usually very sour towards the referees, but against a television show, “El Chiringuito de Jugones”, and its producers.
According to Wikipedia, the show produced in Madrid by journalist Josep Pedrerol is considered in Spain to be pro-Real Madrid, “manipulative” and because, over time, “rather it turned into an attack of harassment and demolition of Barcelona”.
The logo of the show El Chiringuito de Jugones
On Friday evening, during the Betis – Real Madrid match, dissatisfied with the decisions of the “central” César Soto Grado, one of the guests of the mentioned show explicitly stated that the referee should be targeted: “They should all go after the referee, go after the referee“.
AESAF threatens legal action: “Respect for the referee is respect for football”
The referees' union considers this reaction as an incitement to violence, unacceptable, and condemns “in the strongest terms any message that incites to harass or attack the referee. Taking such a line is not a matter of opinion. It fuels a climate of hostility that endangers the safety and dignity of the arbitral community.”
At the same time, the organization warns that, in the face of “events of this nature, AESAF will activate the appropriate actions: the collection of the broadcasts, the legal analysis to evaluate the possible legal actions, the transfer of the facts to the competent platforms and bodies and the strengthening of the institutional protection and the reputation of the affected referees.
We will not normalize hatred against those who guarantee competition. Respect for the referee is respect for football”.
Coach Alvaro Arbeloa had blamed a missed penalty and a foul in the phase from which Bellerin equalized for Betis
The coach of Real Madrid, Alvaro Arbeloa, had stated after the final whistle that the referee Soto Grado denied his team a penalty for Ricardo's handball and that he overlooked a foul by Antony la Mendy, in the phase at the end of which Bellerin equalized for Betis, in the very last seconds of the game (min. 90+4).
The Catalan daily Mundo Deportivo reproached him, however, for “he did not say anything about three possible penalties caused by Brahim, Rudiger and Mendy, a possible red card for Huijsen or about Mbappé's offside position in the action that led to the 0-1 goal scored by Vinicius”.
