Peñarol Blasts Referees After Draw with Deportivo Maldonado, Nacional Fires Back

A dull 0-0 on the field, but explosive in the press room. That's how Saturday ended after Peñarol failed to get past a draw against Deportivo Maldonado in matchday three of the Torneo Clausura. The result was already a headache for the yellow and black side, but what came afterward is what really ignited the controversy: club president Ignacio Ruglio came out swinging against referee Esteban Ostojich.

The reason? According to Ruglio, there was unequal treatment in the cards shown and the fouls called throughout the match. "We saw it today, there wasn't a single yellow card for Deportivo, and they hammered Leonel Jaime every time he tried to move, while all of ours turned into yellows. Their goalkeeper would do something and nothing happened, meanwhile they were all over Washington Aguerre. It affected the whole match. We already saw this coming, we know how Ostojich operates," the club official said at the post-match press conference.

But it didn't stop there. With the clásico against Nacional just around the corner, Ruglio also took aim at the referee assigned for that match: Gustavo Tejera will be in charge on Sunday. And the Peñarol president made no secret of his distrust, bringing up a recent episode that still stings for the Carbonero faithful: the penalty claim for an uncalled foul by Diego Romero on Leonardo Fernández in the second final of the 2025 Uruguayan Championship. "We already know what's coming in the clásico too. The players came to talk to me about what Ostojich was like, I told them what was going to happen and it happened. And now they've brought in the other one who killed us in the last final," Ruglio said.

The Response from the Other Side

As expected, the Peñarol president's comments didn't take long to draw a response. Flavio Perchman, Nacional's vice president, was asked about the matter on Sunday during Canal 10's "Punto Penal" program, and he didn't hold back. For the tricolor official, there's a clear difference between how Nacional and Peñarol handle these kinds of situations.

"In the first final of 2025 we got robbed, but the penalty in the second final was far more debatable than the red card that wasn't given to Javier Méndez in the first final, which was beyond doubt. We don't talk that disrespectfully about every referee, and we've had our own issues with Ostojich last year. I'm glad to see how Ostojich is doing now, I thought he was much better this year. We lost to Racing with him in charge and we didn't come out complaining. The officiating yesterday in the Peñarol versus Deportivo Maldonado match was excellent," Perchman said.

The tricolor vice president went further, suggesting that Ruglio's criticism functions as a recurring excuse whenever the team stumbles: "They were on a good run, and the first match that costs them points...", he said, implying that the real issue lies more in how the team is performing than in the whistle.

Perchman also questioned the logic behind Ruglio's constant complaints against different referees over time: "If you say you don't like any of them... I thought Ostojich was one of the ones you did like." And on Tejera, the man chosen for Sunday's clásico, he had nothing but praise: "He's surely among the top local referees and he was the one selected to go to the World Cup. That gives me peace of mind, there are several referees who give me peace of mind. I focus more on what's happening inside our own team than on refereeing matters," he concluded.

With the clásico just days away, the refereeing controversy has already created a tense atmosphere between the two clubs, something that's never in short supply ahead of the biggest matches in Uruguayan soccer.