RFEF President reveals Florentino Perez's complaints about refereeing in Spain – ‘We've lost many titles because of them'

Yahoo

29-01-2025

Rafael Louzan, the newly appointed president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), is once again in the spotlight.
This time, it is due to an interview he gave on the El Cafelito podcast, following the announcement of coach Luis de la Fuente's contract renewal.
Louzan spoke openly about his relationship with Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, as well as the ongoing issue of refereeing in Spanish football.
Louzan explained that his relationship with Perez has been good for years, even before he assumed his current position at the Federation.
However, he acknowledged that the Real Madrid president has repeatedly expressed his frustrations with the refereeing system.
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According to Louzan, Perez feels that his club has been harmed by referee decisions, a sentiment that has become widely known.
'My relationship with Florentino Perez, which was before this, is good,' he said as quoted by Mundo Deportivo.
The thing is that Florentino states emphatically that he feels harmed in the field of refereeing and so on. This is already vox populi.'
Despite these tensions, Louzan emphasized the need for both men to start fresh and work together.
'I tell him (Florentino), let's see, I've just arrived. We'll have to reset the counter and we'll try to get along somehow.'
When asked whether Perez still brings up the issue of referees, Louzan confirmed that the Real Madrid president remains persistent on the matter.
Perez, according to Louzan, often reminds him about the topic, particularly in relation to the controversial Negreira Case, which has affected Barcelona.
Louzan noted that he has told Perez that the matter is in the hands of the courts and that there is little he can do about it.
'I tell him that it is in the hands of justice. What am I going to decide?'
In a lighter moment, Louzan even revealed that Perez once jokingly threatened to bring in English referees to handle matches involving Real Madrid.
'He told me one day that he was going to bring in English referees to whistle.'
Louzan also recalled a conversation with Perez in Saudi Arabia a year ago, where the Real Madrid president expressed concerns over the refereeing issues that he believes have cost the club valuable titles.
'In Saudi Arabia a year ago he took me aside and said: 'You have to resolve this issue of the referees that is harming us and we have lost many titles because of the referees',' he said.
Louzan's attempts to address the issue have been met with a constant reminder from Perez about how much it has affected the club's fortunes.
Finally, when Pedrerol asked whether it would be possible to get La Liga president Javier Tebas and Perez to sit down together, Louzan responded with a laugh, acknowledging that it would be a difficult task.
'Why not? But I can see that it's going to be very complicated. There are difficult challenges, but this one is even more so,' he noted.