The Spanish referee José María Sánchez Martínez (Lorca, Murcia; 40 years old) has finished his physical tests in Las Rozas and is preparing to attend the interview in a room attached to one of the VAR rooms used by referees during matches. This attached room is one of those “hidden rooms” that were the subject of controversy a few weeks ago, when its function was revealed as a second VAR room that operated parallel to the main room during LaLiga matches. Controversy that Sánchez Martínez tries to resolve: “From this room the only thing that is done is to have control over any technical problem that may occur during the matches, such as a sound or image incident,” explains Sánchez Martínez, settling so just one of the issues that have generated controversy around Spanish refereeing in this first third of the season.
Another issue that has sparked controversy has been the relationship between the referees and the players and coaches, which has given rise to Girona centre-back David López denouncing insults by the refereeing body or Carlo Ancelotti admitting that he had restrained himself. at a press conference to avoid sanctions. Given this, Sánchez Martínez points out: “Of course there is a space for freedom of expression, but without crossing a line in which the professionalism of the referee is disrespected. We know that our work is always subject to criticism, because the decisions we make may not please one of the two sides, especially in those plays that enter what we call gray territory, where everything depends on interpretation. Of course, the coach and the players have to express themselves with maximum freedom, but always within limits marked by respect for each other’s profession.”
The way in which the VAR is used has also given something to talk about during the first thirteen days of the championship. The president of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA), Luis Medina Cantalejo, acknowledged this week that they had identified “a couple of incorrect decisions” so far this year, although he later evaluated the refereeing work positively in the first quarterly balance of the CTA. In that same appearance, Medina Cantalejo pointed out that the improvements regarding the use of VAR involve returning a certain degree of autonomy to the match referee regarding video refereeing and that “increasingly it is the central referee who decides more things”, although without explaining in detail. what that means exactly.
For Sánchez Martínez, deciding more things means “returning a little to the essence of what the figure of a referee means.” Furthermore, he positively values the existence of video refereeing as a support for his work, although he agrees that it is only used in the event of clear errors: “VAR is a tool that allows a teammate to help us when it is considered that there has been a manifest error. , because with the speed at which football is currently played there are certain situations that we cannot see, but in the end what our president tells us and what we all look for is that it is on the field where decisions are made,” says the referee who directed the last Copa del Rey final and one of the three Spanish referees with a UEFA Elite license.
Beyond all the adjustments that can be made to improve the present of Spanish arbitration, the reality is that there is a shadow that the Technical Committee of Referees has not been able to get rid of and that shadow continues to be projected by the figure of José María Enríquez Negreira, former referee accused of receiving up to 7.4 million euros from FC Barcelona during his time as vice president of the CTA. Given this, Sánchez Martínez claims to feel “hurt and disappointed” by the situation, in addition to considering that it is something that “has greatly affected” the entire refereeing union.
When asked if he thinks that all the whirlwind of doubts that surround Spanish refereeing could influence fewer young people wanting to practice the profession, Sánchez Martínez responds: “Absolutely, refereeing, like football, is also youth and it must be taken care of. To reach the elite you have to go through all the categories and now we are seeing how in the grassroots soccer matches the boys [árbitros jóvenes] they are being affected. A climate of general tension is being created that must be taken care of, because otherwise we are going to face a youth problem, in which young people are no longer interested in wanting to be referees. And it will be a big problem, because let’s not forget that a soccer match without a referee is impossible,” says who, despite the experience, on another occasion also acknowledged that lately he had stopped reading and listening to many things related to soccer. This is to “disconnect a little” and avoid “going crazy.”
Finally, Sánchez Martínez makes an assessment of some of the new measures in which the Technical Committee of Referees is working to reinforce transparency, such as the possibility that any spectator can listen to what is being discussed between the refereeing body during the match, an idea which he doesn’t like very much: “I don’t know if wearing an open microphone throughout the game contributes to improving football. I honestly think it would be a bit daring and a bit boring, because in the end what the spectator is looking for is for football to be played in a dynamic way, not to listen to us.” The referees, he points out, also have the right to privacy: “just as the teams have a certain amount of privacy in their locker rooms, I think that we also sometimes seek that privacy that allows us to work in a climate of comfort and tranquility,” he concludes.
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