Official claims he was pressured to favour Real Madrid in upcoming Clasico
Spanish police are investigating, according to Catalan newspaper L'Esportiu's online edition, a case of pressure being put on an assistant referee to benefit Real Madrid in the upcoming Clasico.
It seems that the linesman in question was expected to form part of the refereeing team at the game between Madrid and FC Barcelona on November 21 at the Santiago Bernabeu. The reports suggest another referee told him that he had been given instructions to benefit Los Blancos in the game.
In fact, the information in the paper goes further than that and announces that an Anti-Corruption Prosecutor from Barcelona has had knowledge of the case since October 19 when Jacinto Vicente, a lawyer who specialises in sport, submitted a document detailing the complaints raised by the referee who had been pressured.
Vicente requested that the name and personal data of the official did not appear in the document because it could lead to concerns of prejudice against him -- both personally and professionally.
The assistant referee, still according to L'Esportiu, wants the facts to be published because he considers it could help "to stop these incidents taking place and hopefully prevent a situation of personal distress," the document indicates.
Despite the official not wanting to name names, according to a report on Wednesday by COPE, it's been suggested the person pressuring him is Jose Angel Jiménez Muñoz de Morales, a member of the Technical Committee of Referees in Spain.
Spanish police are now responsible for investigating the case by contacting the persons related to the events and clarifying what they can. In this sense, it remains an unprecedented process and the possible consequences at this time are difficult to assess.
