Gabriela Moreno is an active international referee and a director of the Peruvian Football Federation (FPF), which is prohibited according to FIFA regulations. At the end of November 2024, following the preliminary arrest of the FPF president Agustín Lozano, three members of his Board of Directors decided to resign. Raúl Bao, Juan Enrique Dupuy and Gisella Mandriotti left their posts and, shortly after, were replaced by Freddy Ames, Claudio Limaylla and Gabriela Moreno. The last person mentioned is currently an active FIFA referee. According to the statutes of the FPF, the Board of Directors - charged with making decisions governing the functioning of Peruvian football - must have a female member. In addition, it is specified that an active player cannot be a member, but it is not specified what happens in the case of referees. Then the question arises: is there a conflict of interest in Gabriela Moreno's appointment?
Chapter 8 of the FIFA Referee Regulations, concerning conflicts of interest, states that the referees proposed for inclusion on the international lists may not exercise any official role as members of an executive committee, secretaries general or members of the referees committee commission of a club, member federation, confederation or FIFA during the period for which they have been proposed. The circular was sent on 5 September 2024 and has the signature of Mattias Grafstrom, current secretary general of FIFA. After becoming aware of the FIFA regulations, RPP contacted the president of the National Referees Committee, Winston Reategui, who indicated that Moreno's case constitutes a clear and relevant conflict of interest. The five directors of CONAR agree that it is a fairly objective and clear standard. “In order to safeguard the confidence levels, we have elevated the case to the Integrity and Ethics Office of the FPF”, said Reategui. The current head of Peruvian refereeing added that Gabriela Moreno is already aware of the position of CONAR. “I've talked to her and she knows about this FIFA directive. In these circumstances, she has to decide whether she wants to continue as an international referee or director of the FPF for 2025. I cannot give details of the dialogue, out of respect, but I do confirm that she has already been informed about our decision”, he added. The National Referees Committee held three investigative meetings, but Moreno did not attend any of them. RPP contacted Gabriela Moreno to request her position, but there was no response from the FIFA referee.
Source: RPP
