Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has taken aim at Barcelona and the referees in La Liga in a speech at the Assembly of Representative Members on Sunday.
Perez couldn’t resist bringing up the Negreira case and also branded the level of refereeing in Spain “unacceptable.”
“The level of Spanish refereeing is also unacceptable. It’s a disgrace that FIFA didn’t select a single one of the 35 Spanish on-field referees,” he said.
“And of course, it’s also unacceptable that Barcelona, for whatever reason, paid the vice-president of the referees’ association more than 8 million euros for at least 17 years. He held important positions, and this period coincides, coincidentally, with Barcelona’s best results in our country.”
The Real Madrid chief also hit out at the failed attempt to take Barcelona’s game against Villarreal to Miami.
“It’s not normal that the president of La Liga wants to impose a match on us in Miami, something that even Barça’s captain, Frank de Jong, doesn’t think is normal,” he added.
“And it’s also not normal that La Liga supports two teams, Barcelona and Villarreal, receiving extra financial incentives for playing in Miami. And then we have to listen to Tebas comparing the match to the NFL’s failed attempt to play in Miami.
“The NFL game was legal and in accordance with the competition rules, and it also had the full support of everyone. It’s not the same; it didn’t even have UEFA’s backing. It’s nothing more than a failed gamble.”
