Sevilla lodge official complaint over refereeing in Real Madrid clash

Two days after their 4-1 La Liga defeat to Real Madrid, a match marred by controversial officiating decisions, Sevilla have submitted a formal complaint to the league alleging bias in favour of their opponents, according to reports in the Spanish media. Arda Güler escaped a red card for an elbow in the 23rd minute before going on to open the scoring shortly after. Immediately after the final whistle, Sevilla head coach Luis García Plaza heavily criticised the refereeing decisions. 

In their complaint, Sevilla expressed "deep disagreement with the audiovisual coverage of the match." Speaking on the "El Partidazo" show, Sergio Carranza Lezcano, who is responsible for the live television broadcast of the matches, admitted a decision was made not to show slow-motion replays of Arda Güler's foul. Sevilla argued this represented "unequal and inadequate broadcasting and replay coverage of decisive actions during the match." The Andalusians also strongly protested a challenge by Marc Cucurella on Peque, which they insist should have been a penalty, as well as an uncalled foul by Konaté on Robby Ure in the buildup to Real Madrid's second goal. 

Sevilla pointed out that the penalty awarded to Real Madrid for a foul on Kylian Mbappé was replayed from various angles and perspectives. The club were also left dissatisfied with their meeting with the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) and have threatened to pursue legal action to protect their interests.