Montero believes the 21-year-old England midfielder used foul language towards him during the 1-1 draw at Osasuna and showed him a straight red card, but Bellingham and his coach Carlo Ancelotti said the referee was wrong.

Montero closed his Instagram account after receiving tens of thousands of comments, including insults and death threats .

“The professional referees strongly reject the attacks and threats that our colleague Jose Luis Munuera Montero is receiving on social media, which are not only targeting him personally but also his family,” the Spanish football federation said in a statement late Monday.

He continued: “These attacks are in addition to the hatred and verbal violence that we face while doing our work on a weekly basis, which unfortunately, in the lower levels, turn into physical violence in many cases.”

Spanish arbitration targets Real Madrid… between reality and conspiracy theory

Bellingham could face a lengthy ban under the rules for using “offensive words or attitudes” towards match officials, but the player said the referee misunderstood him.

“I’m an English player. When I speak on the pitch it’s normal to use expressions that are familiar to me in English,” the England international told reporters on Saturday. “There was no offence, you can see that in the video straight away, it was an expression I was saying to myself, I wasn’t even saying it to the referee. But obviously there was a misunderstanding. I think I said it to him.”

Montero also issued a statement on Tuesday denying any wrongdoing, after newspapers Marca and AS reported that the Spanish federation was investigating a possible conflict of interest between his refereeing work and a private sports consultancy firm he co-owns.

The Spanish federation told Reuters that its compliance committee was analysing whether his actions were compatible with his work as an arbitrator.

Montero threatened legal action against the media.

“In recent months, the attack on the arbitration committee has become clear and in this latest incident I was the target,” he said.