"I'm absolutely sick of it": Real Madrid legend explodes at refereeing controversy

Football in second place

Argentine Jorge Valdano, analyst for the "Movistar Plus+" channel and a Real Madrid legend, has aired his frustration at the escalating refereeing row that followed Real Madrid's 4-1 win over Sevilla, criticising how the conversation has drifted away from the players and the goals towards officiating decisions and the protests that ran through the game.

During his appearance on "Movistar Plus+", Valdano said he was sick of refereeing controversy dominating the football agenda. "I'm tired of all this, I'm extremely tired of it," he said.

Football serves up wonderful goals and players of exceptional quality, the Argentine argued, yet the talk always ends up with the officials. That growing obsession with refereeing decisions, he believes, shoves the game itself into second place.

From the first minute, Valdano noted, the stadium rang with chants and objections aimed at La Liga president Javier Tebas and the Negreira case, as well as at the referees. For him, that was proof of how wide the circle of controversy around Spanish matches has become.

He also picked up on the words of Sevilla head coach Luis Garcia, who complained that Arda Guler had not been sent off. Valdano reckoned the coach had used the possibility of a red card for the Real Madrid player to excuse his own side's performance.

Whether Guler deserved to go, Valdano would not say. What he did attack was the debate's endless fixation on refereeing calls at the expense of what actually happens on the pitch. Everything now revolves around the referees, he concluded.