The vestige of Francoism that Spanish football has eliminated

SabadellThe Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and the Professional Football League (LFP) have tasked the newly appointed president of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA), Fran Soto Balirac, with leading a major refereeing revolution and overhauling the system from top to bottom. One of the Galician leader's main goals revolves around the humanization of the group, and along these lines, he has sought to reformulate the nomenclature of referees, mentioning first names and eliminating second surnames.

The measure was highlighted in the presentation video for the First Division referee roster and has been continued in official designations. In certain cases, it will be more complicated to identify referees by their first surname alone. The measure has caused some astonishment among those involved because they believe that eliminating their maternal lineage is forgetting an important part of their history and did not believe this would cause any problems. Indeed, it is not a feminist measure. Be that as it may, from then on Gil Manzano will become Jesús Gil (like the famous former president of Atlético de Madrid); Martínez Munuera Juan Martínez; and Hernández Maeso Francisco Javier Hernández. The latter two will lose their uniqueness with the new name.

The origin of the tradition of the referees' two surnames dates back to 1969, during the Franco regime. That season, Ángel Franco Martínez, from Murcia, made his debut in the First Division and, like any other member of his profession, began to receive insults from the fans. Dictator Francisco Franco did not want his surname to be associated with insults and disqualifications and decreed that from then on, referees would be known by both surnames to avoid any kind of ridicule.

Restraints will only be punishable "when they clearly impede movement."

Following the first matchday of La Liga, the Technical Committee has thoroughly reviewed everything that happened in the 2024-25 season and has determined "a lack of uniformity in the handling of restraints inside the penalty area." Given this shortcoming, the Technical Committee has determined that "to sanction a restraint, it must clearly hinder the opponent's movement or be an unsportsmanlike action."

Furthermore, the VAR team has already been instructed that it can only correct "clear and evident" errors in order to minimize the number of video referee interventions. This philosophy seeks to be closer to UEFA's way of working, where the VAR room plays an almost symbolic role and the weight of decisions falls on the on-field referee. Barça suffered this attitude in the second leg of the semi-finals against Inter Milan: the VAR did not encourage the main referee to review Dumfries' potential foul on Gerard Martín before Acerbi's goal that forced extra time.

The CTA is unclear on how to choose controversial plays.

One of the new features the CTA announced with great fanfare was the resolution of controversial plays in the interest of transparency. The turbulent start to the La Liga season has upended plans and raised a host of questions. At this time, it's unclear who should be in charge of choosing which decisions should be analyzed publicly, although logic suggests it should be David Fernández Borbalán, the technical director.

What has been decided is that Marta Frías, the spokesperson, will be the one to convey the experts' opinions via social media. Although the idea remains in place, it won't be implemented during this first matchday of La Liga.