[Saba Sports News] According to Spanish media reports, the Spanish Referees Association has recently issued an official statement, strongly condemning Florentino Pérez’s remarks made at previous press conferences. It demands penalties against Florentino Pérez and urges Real Madrid to issue a public correction and apology. The AESAF strongly condemns the statements made by Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez during the press conference on May 12 and his interview broadcast on La Sexta on May 13. In those remarks, he accused the refereeing system of systematic corruption, claiming titles have been stolen and illegal profits have been made. The association holds that such remarks cannot be justified as legitimate freedom of speech or sports criticism. Instead of merely pointing out individual refereeing mistakes, Mr. Florentino Pérez accused the entire refereeing community of committing sustained corrupt crimes over the past two decades.
The editor believes that Florentino Pérez’s remarks constitute a serious, improper and systematic attack on the professional reputation and institutional dignity of the refereeing community, without any valid judicial verdict as evidence. Fulfilling its statutory duties stipulated in its articles of association to safeguard the refereeing system, the Spanish Referees Association strives to the utmost to protect the dignity and ethical integrity of football referees in Spain.