When Bias Is Offside: How a Madrid Link Wobbled Spain’s Liga F Referee Debate

Controversy Over Referee Appointments Bites Spanish Women’s League

Former Spanish referee Esterada Fernández sparked a fresh wave of controversy in Spanish sports circles on Friday after launching a sharp attack on the refereeing technical committee, describing its latest decisions as 'shameful' and 'lacking transparency'.

The crisis stems from the appointment of Yolanda Barraja as the official and assessor for the Granada versus Barcelona match in Liga F today.

What angered Esterada, per the Catalan daily Sport, is that Yolanda is the wife of Mikha Dávila, Madrid's current delegate and former head of Madrid's referees.

Fernández commented via social media: 'They mock clubs, this is shameful... the referees' committee treats us as fools, then speaks of neutrality!'

The Catalan official also lamented: 'The wife of the Madrid delegate is working as supervisor for a match involving Barcelona!'

Esterada described the committee's methods as 'old and rotten, from bygone eras,' insisting such appointments are 'a public mockery of clubs, fans, and the media'.

Although some officials on the referees' committee, such as Klaus Gomez, defended Yolanda citing her résumé as a former international referee, her ties to Real Madrid raise questions about conflicts of interest.

Punchline: In a world where every whistle is under scrutiny, even the coffee breaks come with a bias disclaimer. Punchline 2: If this keeps up, we’ll need a VAR for the VAR.