Copa del Rey final referee breaks down in tears ahead of Barcelona vs Real Madrid: ‘This isn’t fair’ | OneFootball

Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea, the referee assigned to this weekend’s Copa del Rey final, could not help but allow his emotions to show during an appearance in front of the media on Friday.

This comes amid the mounting pressure on officials across the Spanish football landscape at present.

The headline fixture of the entire calendar in Spain is of course set to play out on Saturday evening.

As much will see Barcelona and Real Madrid lock horns with silverware on the line, in the finale of the Copa del Rey.

The matchup marks nothing short of a crucial one for both clubs, in the case of the former to keep alive a treble hunt, and the latter to salvage an underwhelming campaign to date.

Safe to say, then, that the pressure will be on the team of officials to get the key decisions right on the evening.

And one individual already feeling the pressure when it comes to as much is the aforementioned Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea.

Assigned as the referee at La Cartuja on Saturday, De Burgos Bengoetxea took his place in front of the media at a press conference on Friday.

And it was during this exchange that the Spaniard broke down, highlighting what he evidently feels is completely over-the-top criticism being aimed in the direction of he and his colleagues at this moment in time:

“What we’re going through isn’t fair. It’s heartbreaking when my son goes to school and has to hear stuff like his father is a thief.”

Conor Laird – GSFN