The Federation considers that there is no conflict of interest in the referee who expelled Bellingham

BarcelonaJose Luis Montero Montero, The referee who sent off Jude Bellingham, will be able to continue refereeing normally. The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has closed this Thursday the report on the company that he set up in 2024 after having removed him from the Referees Committee until the case was resolved. At first, it was considered that the referee could have violated the RFEF's regulatory code, which prohibits members of the organization from having secondary interests that could interfere with the fulfillment of their professional obligations. A regulation that was created following Gerard Piqué's participation in the negotiations between the Spanish Federation and Saudi Arabia to bring the Spanish Super Cup to the Asian country. The referees have a professional contract that requires exclusive dedication but does not prevent them from having investments or being part of a company.

The company of the inspected referee that was in the spotlight is called Talentus Sport Speakers. It was founded in 2024 with the aim of organizing training talks to spread the values of sport. The point of conflict was not the informative task but the job offers that it advertises on its counter and that are related to clubs, organizations and sports federations. The decision of the RFEF Regulatory Compliance Committee will allow Munuera Montero to referee matches in the Spanish league and the Copa del Rey. In turn, it will also give him the green light to referee international matches, since UEFA does not have the power to call referees if they are not eligible in their federation.

The referee defended his innocence and announces legal measures

Previously, José Luis Munuera had denounced in an official statement "an excessive attack on the refereeing community" and stated that the company Talentus Sport Speakers "has not billed any entity, club or sports federation." In addition, he announced "civil and criminal actions against the media that have spread false or biased information."

The referee also explained in an interview on the Cope channel that the problem had arisen because his company "offers a free service to LinkedIn that consists of creating a database with job offers for young people who have completed a postgraduate degree related to sport." In addition, he took advantage of the interview to denounce the delicate situation that his family is suffering, which was "vilified" by the latest published information.

The referees close ranks with Munuera Montero

On Wednesday afternoon, his colleagues held an emergency meeting in Madrid to discuss the case. The group of professional referees from all categories of Spanish football. On leaving, they issued a statement in which they denounced the "alarming and unsustainable situation" that the group is going through and the atmosphere of "generalized hatred and violence" that they suffer. They also expressed "total and unanimous support" for Munuera Montero, who they hoped to see as a referee "as soon as possible", as will be the case.

Munuera Montero and Real Madrid: "Everything OK, José Luis"

Munuera Montero's statistics with Real Madrid have always been satisfactory for Florentino's team: 15 wins for the white club, 2 draws and 2 defeats. This season the Andalusian referee had visited the Bernabéu on two occasions, when Madrid had faced Espanyol in La Liga (4-1) and Celta in the Copa del Rey (5-2). In the match against the Galician team there was a lot of controversy following a penalty by Lunin that was not awarded and which ended with a goal by Kilian Mbappé in the other area.

His name had some media relevance when some VAR audios were published where his colleague approved one of his decisions with a "Everything is OK, Jose Luis", which Real Madrid TV used to create its videos to train referees.