Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has denied reports that he asked the club to bring back Karim Benzema.
Benzema, 36, left the Bernabeu after 14 years last summer and joined Saudi Pro League champions Al Ittihad as a free agent.
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However, the 2022 Ballon d’Or winner is unsettled in the Gulf nation and wants to return to Europe.
Asked about reports claiming he asked Madrid president Florentino Perez to re-sign Benzema, only for the club supremo to turn it down, Ancelotti said in his Friday news conference: “It’s a lie. We have not spoken about this with the club.”
Ancelotti also denied Barcelona president Joan Laporta’s claim that LaLiga is “corrupted” and Madrid are being favoured by match officials.
Madrid benefitted from three VAR interventions in Sunday’s 3-2 victory over bottom-side Almería, who claimed they were “robbed” at the Bernabeu.
Those decisions reopened the debate about Madrid’s in-house television channel broadcasting videos that highlight controversial refereeing calls ahead of each match.
“I don’t like to talk about controversies,” Ancelotti said. “Much has been said this week. LaLiga is not corrupted.”
Ancelotti then referred to the Negreira case, which has Barça under scrutiny.
“Everyone knows what has happened in the last 20 years in Spanish football,” Ancelotti said. “We cannot divert attention. Spanish football has had a problem. Investigations are being carried out by authorities, the Spanish Civil Guard. We have to give them time and wait. “
Laporta is at the centre of the Negreira case.
He and Barça were charged with alleged corruption and bribery over payments the club made to former vice president of the Spanish refereeing committee, Jose María Enriquez Negreira, between 2001 and 2018.
Laporta has said the payments were for “technical reports about referees” and has repeatedly denied the club has ever “bought referees or influence.”
Negreira is to testify as a defendant over the payments after a judge dismissed his dementia claim on Thursday, judicial sources confirmed to EFE.
