Buenos Aires, Feb 13 (NA) – Former referee Pablo Lunati criticized the performance of referee Andrés Merlos in his last match, between River Plate and Argentinos Juniors, and questioned the way he addressed coach Marcelo Gallardo. According to the Argentine News Agency, the referee, who was on duty, endorsed a version that claims Merlos called the “Muñeco” a “bad person” for “getting Martín Demichelis fired”. The conversation took place on the air of Radio Rivadavia, during an edition of the traditional program “La Oral Deportiva”, which airs from Monday to Friday, from 22:00 to 00:00. A regular participant and protagonist in controversies, Pablo Lunati called for violence against referee Andrés Merlos. In comments made on Radio Rivadavia, the former referee stated that there are two referees he should not talk to, Andrés Merlos and Fernando Espinoza, and questioned the way the first one addressed the historic coach of the “Millionaire”. Lunati based his statement on a version that went viral on social networks, which comments that in the exchange between Merlos and Gallardo, the manager called him a “bad referee and a bad person”, to which the official retorted: “you are a bad person because you got Demichelis fired”, who was River's coach before the return of the 2015 and 2018 Copa Libertadores champion.
