Real Madrid Players Reportedly Bar Chief Medic Dr. Olmo from Changing Room

JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/Getty Images

Festering tensions between the Real Madrid players and the club’s head of medical services, Doctor Jesus Olmo, have reportedly prompted the Los Blancos stars to banish him from the dressing room.

According to Marca, club captain Sergio Ramos took it upon himself to garner the opinions of the rest of the first team in relation to the doctor and “the group unanimously voted in favour of slamming the door in Olmo's face.”

Marca has previously claimed the Madrid players are wary of Olmo after suggestions he had been “scheming against” former manager Carlo Ancelotti. The piece suggested the doctor was advising top club officials about the goings on in the dressing room while the Italian was in charge, and the players place the blame on him for Ancelotti’s dismissal at the end of last season.

Ramos was asked to gather the opinions of his team-mates on Olmo.Boris Streubel/Getty Images

The report claimed Real granted “sweeping powers” to Olmo this summer, as Rafael Benitez was appointed manager. Needless to say, it doesn’t sound as though that decision has gone down particularly well with the playing staff, per Marca:

The way they saw it, they had lost the battle but not the war. Rumours of a backlash had been simmering ever since and now one has arrived. The stars may not call the shots at boardroom level, but they are in charge in the dressing room. As such, they have resolved to bar the doctor from their sanctum. …

The next step will see Ramos go to Real Madrid CEO Jose Angel Sanchez with the petition.

Marca note the players had asked for Olmo to be relieved of his duties at the end of the season and were left baffled by the decision to give him even more responsibility.

The players apparently blame Olmo for Ancelotti's departure.Andres Kudacki/Associated Press

It’s claimed the head of medical services decided to sack physiotherapists who were well liked by the dressing room. In addition, Olmo is also reported to have advised the board that the work being done under Ancelotti was not up to the standards required and a key contributor to the influx of injuries Los Blancos had at the end of the previous term.

As we can see here, Ancelotti was a very popular figure with the club’s high-profile players, including star man Cristiano Ronaldo:

The reports do not paint a happy picture and if factions in the camp are as divided as suggested, it’s imperative the club takes drastic measures. Getting everyone aligned at a football club is difficult enough as it is, but when the club in question is as high-profile as Real Madrid, everyone needs to be as united as possible if the team is to prosper.

For Benitez, these circumstances are likely to be making a difficult job even tougher. For his sake, the team’s and Olmo’s, it’s important some decisive action is taken in order to placate what sounds like a volatile atmosphere behind closed doors.