The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) launches a message of support for referees: "Respect the referee, respect football"
The aim of the various initiatives is to promote global respect for the figure of the referee, reduce the climate of tension across all categories of Spanish football, and call for the involvement of all parts of football.
The Royal Spanish Football Federation, together with its referees, launches a message of unity aimed at raising awareness across all sectors of Spanish society, focusing on maintaining sportsmanship, education, and fair play in football, both among fans and between players, coaches, and officials in relation to the refereeing community in Spain.
The slogan will be visible before the matches at all stadiums in La Liga and the Second Division this coming weekend: "Respect the referee, respect football" is the message being launched by the RFEF to support its referees, and they are inviting all professional clubs to join in by posing with the refereeing team before the start of each match.
The message "Respect the referee, respect football" will also be displayed this evening on the scoreboards and pitchside billboards during the Spanish national team’s Nations League match against Belgium in Valencia.
The Royal Spanish Football Federation thus joins the call from Spanish referees, who this week have asked for support, unity, and solidarity to remove football from a climate of violence and episodes of aggression that undermine the spirit of sport: "We are professionals, and we do our job as well as we can," stated international referee José María Sánchez Martínez on behalf of all Spanish referees.