The president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), Rafael Louzán, has revealed that Real Madrid’s top executive, Florentino Pérez, asked him a year ago to intervene in the refereeing situation, claiming that the club had lost "many titles" due to unfair decisions.

In an interview with Josep Pedrerol, set to air this Thursday on La Sexta, Louzán explained that Florentino Pérez is "persistent" on this matter and feels "clearly harmed" by refereeing in Spain.

The Conversation in Saudi Arabia

According to Louzán, the discussion took place in January 2024, during the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia:

"In Saudi Arabia, a year ago, he pulled me aside and said, 'Hey, you need to sort out this referee issue. It’s hurting us a lot, and we’ve lost many titles because of it,’” the RFEF president recounted.

Louzán, who took office as federation president on December 16, stated that Florentino Pérez insists that a solution must be found for the Negreira case, in which Barcelona is under investigation for payments of €7.5 million to the former vice president of the Technical Committee of Referees between 2001 and 2018.

"That’s in the hands of the courts. How am I supposed to solve it? I believe in the work of the referees," Louzán emphasized.

The Idea of Bringing in English Referees

At another point in the interview, Louzán revealed that Florentino Pérez even suggested a drastic solution for refereeing in Spain: "He told me he was going to bring in English referees to officiate matches," the RFEF president stated.

Relationship With Tebas: A Tough Challenge

Louzán was also asked about the possibility of Florentino Pérez and LaLiga president Javier Tebas mending their relationship. However, he didn’t sound very hopeful: "Why not? But I see it as very complicated. There are difficult challenges, and this one is even harder. It’s not easy," he concluded.