The Technical Referees Committee (CTA) has become an increasingly high-profile organisation following the revelations from the Negreira scandal. However there are always talking points in Spain when it comes to the officials, even when there are no games.
According to Relevo, one referee nearly came to blows with the Head of the CTA Luis Medina Cantalejo during the preseason get-together this August. They say that Jorge Figueroa Vazquez and Medina Cantalejo had to be separated by colleague Jose Maria Sanchez Martinez.
The pair were out as part of what is known as ‘the night of Halloween’ as it is known within refereeing circles, where the referees tend to go out on the last night of the summit, before returning home.
Relevo report that referee Jorge Figueroa Vazquez nearly came to blows with the head of the Referees Committee Luis Medina Cantalejo in the latest meeting. #RFEF pic.twitter.com/KyRxOwJ741
— Football España (@footballespana_) September 11, 2024
The CTA have an unofficial rule that they will not hire referees over 45 for La Liga, an age which Figueroa Vazquez had reached, and thus it had been decided that he would be demoted to Segunda. However he had not been informed of the decision until the preseason summit this year, which is what Figueroa Vazquez had an issue with, recriminating his until then friend Medina Cantalejo. He had wanted the chance to bid farewell publicly before leaving La Liga.
It is understood they were on good terms due to the latter’s daughter working with Figueroa Vazquez for several years. As an aside, it is noted that the semi-automatic offside technology, installed this year, was only discussed once.
This will do little for the CTA’s public image, which is already not in a great place in Spain. Facing constant complaints from Real Madrid, Barcelona and many more aside from the Negreira scandal, it does paint the organisation as slightly dysfunctional, even if it was only an isolated incident.
