Former referee Iturralde González hits back at Real with revelation about Florentino Pérez. The charge of corruption against Barcelona is keeping the Spanish football world busy. This is not only evident from protests from Athletic Bilbao fans during Sunday evening’s league game. Real Madrid is also involved in the matter. And that has led to criticism from former referee Eduardo Iturralde González, who made a remarkable revelation.
Real Madrid’s testification
Barcelona has recently come under fire because the club is suspected of having paid millions of euros to referee boss José María Enríquez Negreira between 2001 and 2018. Real’s board called an extraordinary meeting in response to that news and expressed its concern about the serious allegations. In a statement, Real also stated that it is prepared to testify in the case, if the court deems it necessary.
It didn’t stop there. On the club channel, Real Madrid this weekend published a video of almost four minutes in which it shows all the mistakes Iturralde González has made in his career as a referee at the expense of the club. It seems to be a reaction to the fact that Iturralde González stood up for Barcelona in his role as analyst for Cadena SER. “This is Iturralde González, that referee who has taken off his mask and is attacking Real Madrid through the media.”
Iturralde González’ response
The former referee has now hit back at Real Madrid. He said, “Is this the modus operandi of this TV channel? They’re journalists, right? Investigate it. Then you will see how they try to put pressure on certain people,” Itturalde González said to Cadena SER on Sunday. “After a 6-1 win against Deportivo, someone came up to me afterwards and locked me in a room and said to me: ‘I’m just asking you to whistle the same in our games as in Barca’s.”
Iturralde González then revealed that it was Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez who pressured him in a way he has never experienced since. He revealed, “I asked him if he was joking and told him the conversation was over. I reported it to the referee committee, because I took it very seriously. If the people at Real Madrid TV are good journalists, let them investigate this. I’ll make their job easier: start at the top.”
Iturralde González concluded his revelation by adding that referees do not take bribes. “There are no corrupt referees, we are above. I think it’s important to stick to the facts. I have nothing to hide,” said the former referee. Who has said in the past that Real matches are the most difficult to whistle. “Then you get run over by the Real Madrid bus,” he referred to the role of the media.
