Real Madrid 'request English referees are brought to Spain' to 'improve poor quality in La Liga'

Real Madrid made a request for an unprecedented change to referees in La Liga after being unhappy with the level of officiating, according to the RFEF President.

Los Blancos are the reigning Spanish champions and current league leaders, leading rivals Atletico by five points after 21 games.

However, those high up at Real are not satisfied with the quality of the refereeing in the Spanish top flight, so much so that at last year's Spanish super cup, long-time president Florentino Perez spoke to Louzan, the new chief of the Spanish football federation, to tell him exactly how he feels.

Speaking to Josep Pedrerol on El Chiringuito, he said: "In [Saudi] Arabia a year ago he took me aside there: ‘Hey, you have to resolve this matter of the referees that is harming us and that we have lost many titles because of the referees.’ I believe in the work of the referees."

At the time, Louzan had only recently started in his new position after replacing Pedro Rocha but Perez had also had the suggestion to recruit officials from England to solve what he deems to be a problem with referees.

He added: “Florentino told me one day that he was going to bring English referees to referee. I told him, well, let’s see how we do it then.

“My relationship with Florentino, which was prior to this, is good, what happens is that Florentino, well, of course, he clearly states that he feels harmed in terms of the refereeing. "So I tell him, ‘Hey, look, let’s see.’ I just arrived, we will have to start from scratch, we will try, in some way, to get along.’ He is persevering on the subject.”

Florentino Perez has told Rafael Louzan the change needed to improve refereeing. Image: Getty

Premier League officials have taken charge of games in Saudi Arabia, with Michael Oliver being paid £3,000 and given business-class flights when he refereed Al Nassr vs Al Hilal.

Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) have clamped down on giving permission for the side-jobs though, with it only being considered by the top brass if it is seen as a development opportunity.

England's referees have been prone to criticism in recent times - with particular focus on the use of VAR. Michael Oliver received horrific abuse and death threats after sending off Arsenal against Myles Lewis-Skelly against Wolves, with the three-match suspension later overturned upon appeal.

Although annoyed with the initial decision, Mikel Arteta called for such abuse to be "eradicated”.