Villarreal president Fernando Roig claims he saw referee Jesus Gil Manzano and officials leave the stadium with Real Madrid bags and merchandise on Sunday.
The sensational and alarming claims came in the aftermath of a hugely controversial and pulsating encounter between the sides at Estadio de la Ceramica, where Gil Manzano awarded the visitors a debatable penalty to level the match at 2-2, before Madrid went on to grab a late winner.
"Gil Manzano and his assistants left the stadium with Real Madrid bags. That's not right, it seems to me," Roig explained to reporters long after the match ended.
"The penalty decision? You all know about this…it didn’t hit him totally on the hand, but on the shoulder and the arm. It came from a rebound off a teammate. I don’t think it was a penalty.
“I don’t know if he sees yellow better than white but it (the decision) killed the game. It is necessary to clarify if a ricochet is a penalty or not and I do not think it is."
"It was a great reaction [by Madrid], but we’re not talking about an unfair penalty that has allowed them to come back. I have not said anything to Gil Manzano. He knows what he has to do. A ricochet is not a handball.”