Spanish football federation [RFEF] president Rafael Louzán has claimed Florentino Pérez told him he'd like to bring English referees to Spain, to improve the quality of LaLiga's refereeing.

Real Madrid president Pérez has frequently criticised the quality of Spanish officials, saying in 2023 that "urgent" reforms were necessary, while the club's TV channel, Real Madrid TV, has regularly highlighted refereeing errors before and after games.

In an interview for the podcast 'El Cafelito' with journalist Josep Pedrerol, Louzán -- who was elected as RFEF president last month for a four-year term -- said Pérez had repeatedly raised the subject in conversations with him.

"My relationship [with Florentino] is good," Louzán said. "But what happens with Florentino is that he says, in strong terms, that he feels aggrieved by referees.

"I said to him, 'I've just arrived. Let's try to get along.' But he's persistent on the subject. He reminds me from time to time, he says, 'sort out the Negreira case.' And I say, it's before the courts."

Responsibility for refereeing in Spain lies with the Technical Committee of Referees, which is regulated by the RFEF, while a designating committee -- which includes both RFEF and LaLiga representation -- assigns officials for specific matches.

"Florentino said to me once that he would bring English referees to referee," Louzán said.

"And I said, 'let's see how we do that!' ... It's not just now, he's said to me various times. In Saudi Arabia a year ago [at the Spanish Supercopa], he said to me, 'you have to sort out the referees issue, because they're damaging us, and we've lost a lot of trophies because of referees.' But I [Louzán] believe in the work of referees."

Speaking to Real Madrid's AGM in 2023, Pérez called for the Spanish Government to intervene on the issue of refereeing.

"It's essential for the wellbeing of Spanish football that things like the quality of refereeing and the use of VAR are dealt with," Pérez said.

"I believe the Spanish Government will take steps to improve refereeing bodies in this country. This is urgent, more urgent than ever. The credibility of our competition has been damaged."

Louzán was elected as RFEF president on Dec. 16, having previously represented the Galician Football Federation.

He was allowed to take part in the election despite being subject to a seven-year ban on holding public office -- handed out by a provincial court for misconduct -- which he has appealed to Spain's supreme court.

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has said the club are already working on strengthening in the summer transfer window but insists he is happy with his squad.

Slot signed just two players after arriving at Anfield from Feyenoord Rotterdam last summer; forward Federico Chiesa and goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili, who is spending this season on loan with La Liga side Valencia.

Despite the club's lack of transfer activity, Liverpool have excelled under Slot this season and are top of both the Premier League and Champions League tables.

Liverpool have yet to bring in any reinforcements in the January transfer window, however Slot has revealed it is likely to be a different story in the summer.

"Liverpool should always be competing for a league title, we should always be competing for the Champions League," he said in an interview for the BBC'S Football Focus. "I'm hoping I will be able to keep the club at that level.

"I know people sometimes question this because they haven't seen us doing a lot in the transfer market in the summer and now in the winter as well. There's a reason for that -- because we're happy with the squad.

"But I do know we're definitely working on strengthening in the summer."

Slot also heaped praise on captain Virgil van Dijk, who is out of contract at Liverpool in the summer, and admitted his team have defied even his own expectations with their success this season.

"Everybody here in England would tell you that Virgil van Dijk is the best defender in the world," he said. "In Holland, he got a bit more criticism than he gets over here in England. I was, in a very positive way, surprised how good he was on the ball and how he could play football through the lines.

"From the first day I was like 'wow, this is definitely another level than I'm used to.' But people in England were used to this."

Slot added: "You don't think after 20 games we will have that many points and I wasn't expecting us to be top with the margin we have.

"It's always nice to be up there, but nobody would have expected this. I'm the last person who would have expected [Manchester] City to have such a bad run."

At least 10 commercials to air during Super Bowl LIX on Fox have sold for $8 million, according to multiple reports Wednesday.

Fox reported in November that it had sold out of ad spots, at what it said it believed to be "record pricing," Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch said at the time. As spots were dwindling, the price increased, according to reports. Super Bowl ads normally increase by about $100,000 each year, but this year, the increase was reportedly closer to $500,000.

"What was unique to this Super Bowl, or this marketplace, was we had a lot more people that weren't in the game at all, all of a sudden be like, no, no, I have to get in the game," Fox Sports EVP/ad sales Mark Evans said.

Around 123.7 million people watched the Super Bowl last year, according to Nielsen, and more than 115 million viewers watched in 2023, the last time the Super Bowl aired on Fox.

Anheuser-Busch, Meta, PepsiCo, Frito-Lay, Taco Bell, Uber Eats and others will vie to win over the more than 120 million viewers expected to tune in for the broadcast on Fox and via the free livestream on Tubi.

"If I learned anything, it's that we're in a period now where the live sporting event, where people and families come together to watch, is that much more coveted," Evans said. "There's an escalation in price and interest in the demand for live sports, but we're not at its peak. We've still got runway for growth."

Fox declined to comment on the specific price tag for 30 seconds. Last year, a 30-second spot went for around a reported $7 million.

Evans said the mix of ad categories for the most part includes the usual suspects: beverages, snacks, tech companies and telcos. There will be a focus on AI in more commercials, he said, and slightly more pharmaceutical companies advertising this year.

One category that's down is movie promos and streamers. Another traditionally big category for the Super Bowl, automakers, are mainly sitting it out after a tough year in the sector, with only Stellantis' Jeep and Ram brands having announced an appearance.

The California wildfires in January made the lead-up to the game less predictable than usual. State Farm pulled out of its planned advertising to focus on the fires. And some other advertisers faced production delays. But Evans said accommodations were made wherever possible.

Super Bowl LIX will be played at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans on Feb. 9, when the Philadelphia Eagles will face the Kansas City Chiefs.

Information from The Associated Press was included in this report.

An 18-year-old Temple University student has died after falling from a light pole while celebrating the Philadelphia Eagles' NFC championship win.

Tyler Sabapathy was among the fans celebrating on the streets of Philadelphia after the Eagles beat the Washington Commanders 55-23 on Sunday. Video shows Sabapathy holding onto a street pole then slipping and falling flat on his back, hitting his head on the concrete sidewalk. He was hospitalized with a brain injury and pronounced dead two days later.

Temple president John Fry and vice president for student affairs Jodi Bailey issued a statement Tuesday.

"The loss of a promising 18-year-old man like Tyler is both tragic and traumatic," the statement read in part. "There are no words that can make sense of it, and the entire Temple community mourns his passing. Our hearts go out to Tyler's family, friends, classmates and all who knew and loved him."

Sabapathy, a Toronto native, was an exercise and sport science major at Temple's College of Public Health, according to school officials. He was also an accomplished gymnast with more than 120 medals.

"As a member of the university's club gymnastics team, Tyler displayed exceptional self-discipline and work ethic, spending countless hours a week training and honing his craft. He was loved by his teammates, friends and coaches here in Philadelphia," school administrators said.

Philadelphia officials did not say whether they greased city utility poles on Sunday to discourage fans from climbing them. According to a local news report, police held an internal briefing to discuss how to handle the next possible celebration, which could be in two weeks after the Super Bowl.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has tabbed NBA legend Magic Johnson, Dodgers chairman Mark Walter and 2028 Olympics organizer Casey Wasserman to lead a new effort to support wildfire recovery and rebuilding efforts in Los Angeles.

The philanthropic organization, called LA Rises, includes other business leaders and elected officials as the city looks to rebuild after the January fires ravaged communities and killed at least 29 people.

"We can't lose hope," Newsom said in a news conference at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday. "It is possible that we can come back more climate resilient, come back stronger."

The Mark Walter Family Foundation and the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation have committed up to $100 million to the effort, Newsom said.

Johnson said he will lead the effort to rebuild Altadena, which has been a haven for generations of Black families avoiding discriminatory housing practices elsewhere.

"My focus will be on Altadena because those people may be left behind and I want to make sure that that doesn't happen," Johnson said, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Firefighters were close to nearly having the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire fully to the east surrounded after the first significant storm of the season dosed a region that had been dry for eight months. Both fires ignited Jan. 7 during powerful Santa Ana winds. The Palisades Fire, the largest of the blazes, destroyed more than 6,800 structures and killed at least 12 people.

The Hughes Fire, which ignited north of Los Angeles last week and caused evacuation orders or warnings for more than 50,000 people, was also nearly contained.

Wasserman said the effort is intended to bring about the "rebirth of L.A."

"This process and this journey we're about to start with LA Rises is not about the next month or the next year. This is about what L.A. is going to be like for the next 50 or 100 years, " Wasserman said, according to the Times.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner weighed in on the Los Angeles Dodgers' offseason spending spree, saying it will be even more "difficult" to keep up with the reigning World Series champions.

The Dodgers have spent more than $450 million guaranteed this offseason, pushing their 2025 luxury tax payroll to approximately $390 million.

With the penalties for exceeding the $241 million threshold, the Dodgers' total payroll for this year likely will be in excess of $500 million.

"It's difficult for most of us owners to be able to do the kind of things that they're doing," Steinbrenner said during an interview with the YES Network that aired Tuesday. "We'll see if it pays off."

Despite losing superstar Juan Soto as a free agent to the crosstown rival Mets, the Yankees also have had an active offseason, headlined by Max Fried's eight-year, $218 million deal.

The Yankees currently have Major League Baseball's third-highest luxury tax payroll at just under $303 million. The Phillies are second at just under $308 million, more than $80 million behind the Dodgers.

The Yankees were listed in March 2024 by Forbes as MLB's most valuable franchise, worth an estimated $7.55 billion, while the Dodgers were the second-most valuable at approximately $5.45 billion.

Los Angeles' latest free agent addition, sources told ESPN's Jeff Passan, is reliever Kirby Yates, who agreed to a one-year deal worth $13 million.

The Dodgers also have signed free agents Blake Snell, Tanner Scott, Roki Sasaki, Michael Conforto and Hyeseong Kim; they re-signed Teoscar Hernandez and Blake Treinen; and they reached a multiyear extension with Tommy Edman.

Steinbrenner, whose Yankees lost to the Dodgers in last season's World Series, added Tuesday that Los Angeles' busy offseason does not guarantee another championship.

"They still have to have a season that's relatively injury-free for it to work out for them," Steinbrenner said. "It's a long season as you know, and once you get to the postseason, anything can happen. We've seen that time and time again. We'll see who's there at the end."

Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from Serbia's Davis Cup tie against Denmark because of a hamstring injury.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion was booed off court by some Australian Open fans last week when he retired with the issue after losing the first set of his semi-final against Alexander Zverev.

Djokovic, 37, later posted a photo of an MRI taken of his left hamstring with the caption: "Thought I'd leave this here for all the sports injury 'experts' out there."

Serbia are playing Denmark in a first-round qualifying tie, which starts on Friday.

"We are weakened by not playing Novak, but we are still going for the win," said Serbia captain Viktor Troicki.

"The Danes have a great player in Holger Rune, but our players are also great and I believe in my team."