Payback for the refereeing scandal! Madrid derby official handed severe punishment

The controversial refereeing in the Madrid derby has not gone unpunished.

Details: The Refereeing Committee of the Royal Spanish Football Federation has decided to punish head referee Miguel Ángel Ortiz Arias for his controversial and highly contentious officiating in the Madrid derby between Atlético and Real Madrid. According to Archivo VAR, a portal specializing in the analysis of refereeing decisions, the official has been suspended for at least the next two La Liga matchdays.

The performance of the refereeing team at the Metropolitano Stadium caused a huge stir. During its internal review, the Refereeing Committee acknowledged that Ortiz Arias made serious errors in key moments of the game. The most significant mistake by the referee and the video assistants was deemed to be their failure to issue a straight red card to Atlético midfielder Lee Kang-in for an extremely dangerous studs-up foul on Federico Valverde's ankle.

In addition, the referee made an error over a booking, initially showing a yellow card to Jude Bellingham instead of the offender, Cristian Romero, while also ignoring a penalty-area incident involving a possible handball by Marcos Pubill after a shot from Kylian Mbappé.

It is worth noting that the seventh-round La Liga clash ended in a 2-1 victory for Atlético, while Los Blancos played with 10 men from the 50th minute following defender Dean Huijsen's dismissal.

Reminder: An unthinkable scenario at Real! Vinícius could lose his spot on the main team