Valencia defender Pablo Maffeo sharply criticised the mandatory television interviews at halftime after the 3–0 defeat to Real Madrid in La Liga. The Spaniard was selected for a brief interview with DAZN after the visitors had already taken a 2–0 lead at Mestalla.
Maffeo was shown a yellow card for a foul on Kylian Mbappé, while Real Madrid took the lead through Federico Valverde in the 28th minute. Arda Güler doubled the advantage six minutes later. Mbappé completed the scoring in the 75th minute.
“I really don’t want to give interviews. This is complete nonsense. There’s absolutely no point in this interview. We’re playing football, we’re in the middle of a match. They’re blowing for fouls that don’t exist. There was no foul at all for their first goal. This isn’t fair,” Maffeo said.
The right-back disputed the decision that led to Real Madrid’s opening goal and ended the conversation almost immediately, heading towards the dressing room. After the match, he reportedly apologised to the reporter for his behaviour.
La Liga expanded television access to matches during the 2023/24 season. The package includes interviews with players after the first half, additional conversations and access to moments around the dressing rooms. A fund of €130 million from the revenue generated by the centralised sale of television rights was allocated to the clubs.
Real Madrid opposed the initiative and refused to take part in some of the planned activities. Reports on the matter indicate that the club is foregoing around €13.5 million from the relevant fund, rather than paying a separate fine.
Maffeo’s case has once again raised the question of how far players should be required to fulfil television commitments while the match is still ongoing. In this particular game, Valencia failed to change the result after the break and lost 3–0.