Spanish football federation [RFEF] president Rafael Louzán has claimed Florentino Pérez told him he’d like to bring English referees to Spain, to improve the quality of LaLiga’s refereeing.
Real Madrid president Pérez has frequently criticised the quality of Spanish officials, saying in 2023 that “urgent” reforms were necessary, while the club’s TV channel, Real Madrid TV, has regularly highlighted refereeing errors before and after games.
In an interview for the podcast ‘El Cafelito’ with journalist Josep Pedrerol, Louzán — who was elected as RFEF president last month for a four-year term — said Pérez had repeatedly raised the subject in conversations with him.
“My relationship [with Florentino] is good,” Louzán said. “But what happens with Florentino is that he says, in strong terms, that he feels aggrieved by referees.
“I said to him, ‘I’ve just arrived. Let’s try to get along.’ But he’s persistent on the subject. He reminds me from time to time, he says, ‘sort out the Negreira case.’ And I say, it’s before the courts.”
Responsibility for refereeing in Spain lies with the Technical Committee of Referees, which is regulated by the RFEF, while a designating committee — which includes both RFEF and LaLiga representation — assigns officials for specific matches.
“Florentino said to me once that he would bring English referees to referee,” Louzán said.
“And I said, ‘let’s see how we do that!’ … It’s not just now, he’s said to me various times. In Saudi Arabia a year ago [at the Spanish Supercopa], he said to me, ‘you have to sort out the referees issue, because they’re damaging us, and we’ve lost a lot of trophies because of referees.’ But I [Louzán] believe in the work of referees.”
Speaking to Real Madrid’s AGM in 2023, Pérez called for the Spanish Government to intervene on the issue of refereeing.
“It’s essential for the wellbeing of Spanish football that things like the quality of refereeing and the use of VAR are dealt with,” Pérez said.
“I believe the Spanish Government will take steps to improve refereeing bodies in this country. This is urgent, more urgent than ever. The credibility of our competition has been damaged.”
Louzán was elected as RFEF president on Dec. 16, having previously represented the Galician Football Federation.
He was allowed to take part in the election despite being subject to a seven-year ban on holding public office — handed out by a provincial court for misconduct — which he has appealed to Spain’s supreme court.