The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) announced on Thursday the dismissal of Luis Medina Cantalejo and of the entire directive dome of the Referee Technical Committee (CTA). An expected measure, after three and a half years in which scandals in the arbitration environment They have done nothing but happen. Starting with the explosion of slave, He tried to cover, as well as the progressive decline in the level of Spanish arbitration, a consequence of an obvious disparity of criteria and lack of self -criticism, which has touched back on this season that ends. We review all the reasons that have led Louzán to make the decision to completely renew the arbitration system.
Medina Cantalejo He arrived at the presidency of the CTA in December 2021, with Luis Rubiales still at the RFEF managers. The Sevillian took charge of the committee after the march of Velasco Carballo –Your predecessor– to UEFA. No one expected what would happen in these years in which he has been at the head of Spanish arbitration, in which the discredit has been complete, to the point that Spanish members are not taken into account by FIFA.
Bureau of 'Negreira Case'
The biggest scandal arrived in February 2023. Then, it was discovered that Barcelona had been paying the vice president of the referees Between 2001 and 2018. 8.4 million euros paid by the José María Enríquez Negreira club – which had left his position in 2018, coinciding with the end of the payments – they supposed a stain for Spanish arbitration difficult to repair.
Instead of purifying responsibilities and doing deep cleaning, which will affect everything related to the slave case, Medina Cantalejo He tried to pass on tiptoe. Months later he offered a press conference to give explanations in which he explained absolutely nothing. On the contrary. Tried to subtract weight from the figure of Negreira Inside the CTA. Then, it was learned that information had been required on the case several times and that The day the Civil Guard came to register the headquarters they have in the city of football, preferred to stay at their hotel, Although the agents were collecting information.
In addition, he attacked the only referee who had the courage to appeal in the case: Estrada Fernández. This collegiate came to call him «rata», in one of the meetings that CTA members usually held. Everything, despite the fact that he was the only one that, because of his condition of belonging to the Catalan school, he never whistled to Barcelona, so he was free of suspicion. During that time, Estrada was a referee of Var and, as the referee himself denounced, forced him to arbitrate a match from a van, instead of the Vor room.
With Estrada Fernández he had more conflicts. In fact, the former arbitrator denounced him with Luis Rubiales, Andreu Camps and Velasco Carballo for, allegedly, having used for other purposes an amount of 1.92 million euros that should have been destined to retribution of arbitration.
The purge of Medina Cantalejo to the dissidents
He was not the only referee purged by Medina Cantalejo for his discrepancies with the dome of the organism he directed. A season later, he ceased Matthew Lahoz, that at that time was one of the referees that had the greatest international weight. Condemn ostracism or, directly, fire the referees who had criteria other than those of the CTA has been one of their signs.
In this way he has achieved that, as happened just a few days ago, the referees of First Division They would keep loyalty and do everything possible to keep him in office. At a meeting prior to their dismissal, in which the members presented to Louzán The new union they have created, defended and thanked him for his support.
National and international discredit
Beyond case Negreira, of its purge to members and other accusations, Medina Cantalejo has managed to bring to Spanish arbitration at the lowest level remembered in decades. The lack of self -criticism and justifications to the bad actions of the members have been a constant in recent years. Proof of this is that it has referred on several occasions to the penaltitos They would come to an end and that the VAR would be little interventionist. This last season, any slight contact in the area was pointed out as a maximum penalty and from the video barbitraje the interventions record has been beaten.
To this is added a disparity of criteria in issues such as residual contacts in the area or hands. Something that has led to most first and second division clubs to publicly exploit against the referees. They have not been the only ones, since FIFA has punished Spanish football leaving him without arbitration representatives in the Club World Cupwhere only from the big hill with an irrelevant role as a VAR assistant, the third possible position, after the referee of Var and his assistant.
All this, has led to the Federación To intervene to end this general discontent. Since the arrival of Rafael Louzán, he has worked on a structural reform of the arbitration system that has taken Medina Cantalejo ahead.
