Lance Knight
10-06-2005, 09:42 AM
MADRID, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Leading Spanish referees have strongly defended their professionalism following accusations of incompetence by several Primera Liga clubs.
'The easiest thing is to pick on the defenceless and in this case it is us,' referee Eduardo Iturralde Gonzalez told sports daily Marca on Wednesday.
'Of course we make mistakes and we will carry on doing so because we are human, but in reality we are the best prepared referees in the world.'
Primera Liga referees have come under fire because of a number of perceived errors during the early part of the season.
Real Madrid threatened to ask officials to overturn the result of their 1-0 defeat against Espanyol because they said videos of the match showed the referee blew his whistle for an infringement in the area moments before the winning goal.
At the weekend Valencia coach Quique Sanchez Flores said he 'was sick and tired' of refereeing errors after his side had a seemingly valid goal ruled out in their 2-1 defeat at Getafe.
Espanyol were also up in arms after television replays showed that a goal that would have won their game against Sevilla was wrongly ruled out for offside.
Madrid-based dailies and television stations have accused referees of deliberately favouring champions Barcelona in a number of games.
'The main problem isn't that the referees are being accused of being good, bad or indifferent but they are being accused of making the errors deliberately,' said referee Albert Undiano Mallenco.
'If people don't have faith in the impartiality of referees we might as well all go home.'
Iturralde Gonzalez said he believed that the constant criticism would only serve to create more tension in the game.
'They are encouraging violence and we soon won't even be able to leave our homes. One day something very serious is going to happen.
'The way we are being treated is inhuman.'
'The easiest thing is to pick on the defenceless and in this case it is us,' referee Eduardo Iturralde Gonzalez told sports daily Marca on Wednesday.
'Of course we make mistakes and we will carry on doing so because we are human, but in reality we are the best prepared referees in the world.'
Primera Liga referees have come under fire because of a number of perceived errors during the early part of the season.
Real Madrid threatened to ask officials to overturn the result of their 1-0 defeat against Espanyol because they said videos of the match showed the referee blew his whistle for an infringement in the area moments before the winning goal.
At the weekend Valencia coach Quique Sanchez Flores said he 'was sick and tired' of refereeing errors after his side had a seemingly valid goal ruled out in their 2-1 defeat at Getafe.
Espanyol were also up in arms after television replays showed that a goal that would have won their game against Sevilla was wrongly ruled out for offside.
Madrid-based dailies and television stations have accused referees of deliberately favouring champions Barcelona in a number of games.
'The main problem isn't that the referees are being accused of being good, bad or indifferent but they are being accused of making the errors deliberately,' said referee Albert Undiano Mallenco.
'If people don't have faith in the impartiality of referees we might as well all go home.'
Iturralde Gonzalez said he believed that the constant criticism would only serve to create more tension in the game.
'They are encouraging violence and we soon won't even be able to leave our homes. One day something very serious is going to happen.
'The way we are being treated is inhuman.'