This is how La Liga referees will protect themselves from Florentino Perez's weekly scourge.

SabadellLa Liga announced that referee appointments will be published one day before the match. This measure was agreed upon with the Spanish Football Federation (FA) with the aim of reducing the pressure on referees from clubs, especially Real Madrid. The referees had expressed their rejection of the club's videos and, in line with this, have created their own association to prosecute any entity that attacks their honor. This new approach has been welcomed by the group after a few weeks in which they have been stupefied by the avalanche of developments surrounding the Referees Committee.

Fran Soto, the new president of the CTA, presented his team on July 21. The Galician had little time to assign those responsible for each department, and this lack of planning has been evident with the replacement of Chema Alonso (artificial intelligence advisor) and Aitor Villate (head of assistant referees). Villate resigned due to work incompatibility with his job at Adif and, surprisingly, he will be replaced by the former head of Luis Medina Cantalejo's board, former international Juan Carlos Yuste.

What the referees have taken the worst is the interference from people outside the CTA, who will now be part of their daily work. The recent inclusion of Gregorio Manzano in the designating team has generated much unrest, considering that a coach is not qualified to decide who should officiate matches. The participation of clubs and players, represented by Sevilla FC and Álvaro Negredo, respectively, in the Criteria Unification Committee is also frowned upon.

A rule that will penalize goalkeepers who waste time

Amid the confusion, the referees have full confidence in David Fernández Borbalán, the new head coach. The Andalusian is backed by 14 seasons officiating in the First Division and eight years as an international. He joins the Spanish Federation after leading the CTA in Bulgaria and maintains a close relationship with Carlos Velasco Carballo, the current head of VAR at UEFA.

Fernández Borbalán had his first contact last week in Las Caldas (Asturias), where the RFEF convened all the referees for a start-of-season meeting and physical tests. The official reviewed the new regulations, including a rule that will be applied for the first time in the Spanish League: the goalkeeper will have a maximum of eight seconds to have possession of the ball, and if he exceeds that time, the referee will penalize his team with a corner.

A Real Madrid hacker, seen and unseen in the committee

The presentation of Chema Alonso as head of artificial intelligence raised a stir from the very beginning. hacker The computer scientist was an open Real Madrid and Florentino Pérez fan, and this raised eyebrows among the clubs, prompting them to demand an explanation. It was Alonso himself who clarified his role within the Referees Committee, explaining that he would be limited to acting as an external advisor and would not be responsible for major decisions.

The Federation had accepted the computer engineer's explanations, but was unable to authorize his recent incorporation into Cloudflare, a company that is involved in several legal disputes with La Liga. Rafael Louzán, president of the RFEF, did not want to spoil the good relationship he maintains with Javier Tebas and has decided to end Alonso's adventure with the CTA.