Spanish refereeing has seemingly fallen down the pecking order on the European stage. As reported by El Desmarque, the RFEF’s officiating team are seemingly being punished for the dropping standards of refereeing in the country by not being selected to officiate Europe’s biggest competitions.
There will be no Spanish referees at any of the major European finals in the next couple of weeks – the Champions League, Europa League or Conference League.
Meanwhile, only one Spanish referee, Jesús Gil Manzano, will be heading to Euro 2024 in Germany. For comparison, two Spanish referees were picked to officiate at Euro 2020.
The lack of Spanish representation at the Champions League final is self-explanatory, given Real Madrid’s presence in the fixture, however, the RFEF will be disappointed at a lack of representation in other finals.
One potential reason for this could be the recent retirements of Spanish refereeing veterans Mateu Lahoz and Carlos del Cerro Grande.
The problems and controversies surrounding the RFEF, such as the Negreira case, could also potentially explain why Spanish referees weren’t an attractive option to officiate in such high-profile matches.
