Match-fixing report engulfs Clasico

23 october 2015

REPORTED MATCH-FIXING FIRESTORM ENGULFS REAL MADRID VS. BARCELONA

Reported match-fixing firestorm engulfs Real Madrid vs. Barcelona

A potential corruption scandal has cast a shadow over November's Real Madrid vs. Barcelona match, Spanish soccer's highest-profile rivalry, after a linesman complained to police that he had been pressured to favor Real by the matchday referee, Spanish daily Mundo Deportivo reported Thursday.

Although match officials for the Nov. 21 game haven't been confirmed yet, a linesman claims to have been contacted by the referee, who said the referees committee was applying pressure to favor Real.

Further, a member of that committee — Jose Angel Jimenez Munoz de Morales — is accused of then calling to apply more pressure on the linesman, who had declined the referee's initial request to work against Barcelona.

Munoz de Morales denied the accusations Wednesday night: "I have no idea where they come from. It is like something out of a Kafka novel."

Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone caused a storm early this season when he hinted that Real Madrid would somehow be helped to win La Liga, in part because it has won only one title in seven years.

"The league is dangerously prepared for Real Madrid," Simeone said at the time. "Madrid cannot go seven years with only winning one league. This year I think that sadly it is difficult to see another team winning it."