The Spanish Association of Football Referees (AESAF) has filed a request to open disciplinary proceedings against the president of Real Madrid, Florentino Pérez, with the Competition Committee of the Spanish Federation (RFEF). At issue are the director’s statements about alleged systemic corruption in arbitration, theft of securities and illicit enrichment.
Key details
The complaint, considered an unprecedented step by AESAF, comes in the wake of statements made by Florentino Pérez at a press conference on May 12 and, later, in an interview with La Sexta channel, on May 13. Both interventions had vast repercussions in the media at national and international level.
The referees association argues that the Real Madrid president’s words go beyond the limits of freedom of expression or sporting criticism, by attributing to the refereeing sector a crime that has continued over two decades. The AESAF also highlights that Florentino Pérez’s responsibility is aggravated by the fact that he represents «the most media club in the world», which amplifies the damage caused by his statements.
Among the accusations reported, several quotes from Florentino Pérez stand out. The president of Real Madrid spoke of “the theft of titles”, stating: “I was here for many seasons and won seven Champions Leagues and seven La Ligas, because the others were stolen from me. Systemic corruption for two decades and they continue to be the same referees.».
Florentino Pérez also classified the Negreira Case as «the biggest corruption case in the history of football» and announced the preparation of a «500-page dossier» to present to UEFA. The reports also included accusations of illicit enrichment, with Florentino Pérez declaring: “I didn’t come here so that some referees could enrich themselves with Barcelona’s money.” In the interview with La Sexta, he reiterated the idea of bias, accusing: «Systemic corruption. The same referees continue to do the same things, in a shameless way. This season they stole 16 or 18 points from us.”
Given the seriousness of the accusations, AESAF requests the Competition Committee to apply urgent precautionary measures to prevent the repetition of similar statements. It also requests that Florentino Pérez be obliged to compensate the arbitration group for moral, professional and reputational damages, and that Real Madrid issue a public statement of rectification and apology.
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