Real Madrid president Florentino Perez 'threatened to bring in English referees'

Spanish FA president Rafael Louzan has revealed Real Madrid chief Florentino Perez had jokingly threatened to bring in English officials as he seeks improved officiating standards in LaLiga.

Louzan, who was elected as Royal Spanish Football Federation president last month, addressed concerns over refereeing standards during an interview on the El Cafelito podcast.

He revealed Real Madrid president Perez has been vocal about his concerns following the Negreira case involving Barcelona.

Barcelona last year avoided going to trial as Spanish authorities investigated allegations the club made payments to the then-vice president of the Spanish referee's committee, Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira.

It was alleged that Negreira, who would go on to become the vice president of the Technical Committee of Referees after retiring, was paid €532,728 (£473,340) in 2016, €541,752 (£481,358) in 2017, and then a further €318,200 (£282,915) in 2018.

Louzan, who admits he has a good relationship with Perez, said the Real Madrid president has been 'persistent' when highlighting his frustrations with poor officiating standards.

He added Perez had jokingly threatened to bring in English officials to referee the Spanish giant's matches.

'My relationship with Florentino Perez, which was before this, is good,' Louzan said.

‘The thing is that Florentino states emphatically that he feels harmed in the field of refereeing and so on.

"I tell him that it [the Negreira case'] is in the hands of justice. What am I going to decide?

‘He told me one day that he was going to bring in English referees to whistle

‘In Saudi Arabia a year ago, he took me aside and said: “you have to resolve this issue of the referees that is harming us and we have lost many titles because of the referees”’.

Perez's proposal to bring in English officials comes despite controversies involving Premier League referees.

Referee Michael Oliver was confirmed to be officiated a Premier League game this weekend despite facing death threats and 'abhorrent' abuse after controversially sending off Arsenal defender Myles Lewis-Skelly.

Oliver, 39, and his family were subjected to threats in the wake of last Saturday's match at Wolves and the police have launched an investigation, with the unit leading the probe already in communication with social media companies.

The Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), the body responsible for officiating in England, said it involved the police after Oliver, his partner and their young child were targeted by sickening abuse from anonymous online trolls.

Arsenal won their appeal to overturn Lewis-Skelly's suspension on Tuesday.

Earlier this season, referee David Coote was dismissed as a Premier League official in after the emergence of videos earlier in the year that saw him call ex-Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp 'a German ****'.

Footage also emerged alleging to show him sniffing a white powder through a rolled-up bank note.