Arsenal are through to the Champions League final following a 2-1 aggregate win over Atletico Madrid, but Madrid mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida didn't take the outcome well
18:34, 06 May 2026
Noni Madueke speaks with Referee Daniel Siebert during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 Semi Final Second Leg match between Arsenal FC and Atletico de Madrid.
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Atletico Madrid were unhappy with some of the refereeing decisions against Arsenal. (Image: Catherine Ivill - AMA, Getty Images)
Madrid mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida has made the extraordinary claim that Arsenal's Champions League victory over Atlético Madrid was the result of UEFA corruption. The Gunners booked their place in the final after defeating the Spanish outfit on Tuesday night.
Bukayo Saka's strike secured a 2-1 aggregate win for Arsenal, following a draw at the Metropolitano the previous week. While Arsenal celebrate reaching their first Champions League final since 2006, the mood in the Spanish capital has been anything but jubilant.
City mayor Martínez-Almeida astonishingly alleged that the outcome had been predetermined, with UEFA engineering Atlético's elimination. In a remarkable outburst on Wednesday, he declared: "Well look, what I'm saying is that when I saw the draw I thought we'd get Arsenal and I was wrong.
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"We got to play against UEFA. And UEFA has made it clear that they didn't want Atletico Madrid in the Champions League final. It's incomprehensible that they appointed a German referee when Spain and Germany are playing for the fifth Champions League spot.
"Who, other than UEFA, would think of appointing a German referee as both the main referee and the VAR referee? And yesterday there were plays that weren't due to the referee being more or less bad, but in my opinion, due to a predetermined decision aimed at harming Atletico Madrid."
One decision that left Martinez-Almeida perplexed was the failure to award Atleti a penalty when Riccardo Calafiori alleged pushed Giuliano Simeone. The assistant had already flagged him offside, though replays suggested he may have been onside.
He added: "It's incomprehensible that there isn't a single replay of Giuliano's offside when it was a clear penalty. We later saw on social media that it wasn't offside and that he left his own half.
The mayor of Madrid, Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida, speaks during the 40th anniversary of the death of the former mayor of Madrid Enrique Tierno Galvan, on 5 May 2026, in Madrid, Spain.
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Madrid Mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida has launched a rant claiming the Champions League semi-final between Arsenal and Atletico Madrid was 'fixed'. (Image: Europa Press News, Europa Press via Getty Images)
"In a match broadcast by so many television cameras, why didn't the production team show a replay to determine whether it was offside or not? Because it wasn't offside, and they refused to admit it."
Atletico subsequently demanded a penalty after Calafiori appeared to tread on Antoine Griezmann's foot, but the referee remained unconvinced. "It's blatant, the referee blows his whistle once Griezmann falls, Pubill's foul doesn't exist," the Madrid mayor said.
"And then the added time is clear proof that the referee wanted the match to end as quickly as possible and for Arsenal to go to Budapest instead of Atletico Madrid."
He added: "There's intent in my opinion. I insist, Arsenal could have been beaten, but we couldn't beat the UEFA Cup and it was impossible to beat it. We drew the UEFA Cup, not Arsenal, in the draw to go to Budapest.
"That's why I think we Atletico fans are proud of our team because they competed not against Arsenal, but against UEFA. You can beat Arsenal over 180 minutes, but you can't beat UEFA.
"And UEFA set in motion the entire machinery to prevent Atletico Madrid from advancing in yesterday's match, and the referee was the one who carried out that will."
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