Alvaro Gonzalez Alzate, president of the Division Aficionada del Futbol Colombiano (Difutbol), claimed Tuesday that “In order to be a referee in Colombia, you have to be gay.”
He made the comments in reference to recent sexual assault accusations against referee Oscar Julian Ruiz, reports the news source Vanguardia.com.
It’s been implicated during the investigation that sexual favors have traditionally been demanded of aspiring referees.
Gonzalez Alzate, also the vice president of the Colombian Football Federation, said the situation was extremely troubling because many people, especially children, would do anything to be a part of a team.
He points out that the Colombian Football Federation needs to address the issue because there is total anarchy amongst Colombia’s referee schools and it is affecting the quality of Colombian referees as a whole.
