Spain: "Should we look for referees in another galaxy?"

The Chairman of the Technical Committee of Spanish referees, Victoriano Sanchez Arminio (photo), spoke to "El Partidazo" of the COPE Network and analyzed the future implementation of the VAR, the referee controversies and defended the innocence of former president Villar.


Angel María Villar
"I find him perfectly, he is very well and very strong, and the judges will be the ones who have to decide, what I do not understand is that people judge in advance, without knowing what is there. The treatment that he has received has not been fair, there are other people who have done much more, if he has done something, and yet the treatment they have received has been better, I believe that he has not done anything, nothing at all, to put him in jail."

Respect for referees
"The only thing we ask for is respect, and yet, on some occasions, we do not receive the respect we need, especially when it surpasses the sport."

Relationship with Real Madrid
"The same relationship as with any other club, exactly the same, we have no relationship with the clubs, our relationship is summarized to do the best we can on the field of play. Do we have things to improve? Of course, as in any facet of life, and that is why we are working, and that is why tomorrow we will talk about the things that have been done right or wrong since we met in Santander until now, it is very nice to say that we need to improve, but tell us what. Do I have to go looking for referees from another galaxy? We cannot do more than what we are doing. We have some great referees in Spain, and it is not that I say it because I am the President. Everyone who knows and likes football has seen the evolution that has occurred in the refereeing of our country."

Mateu Lahoz
"It seems that yes, he will go to the World Cup, since they are giving him important matches; but not only him, but all the international referees we have are going out a lot and that is good for the Spanish refereeing. Mateu did not have an easy match; there were some things that I liked and some that I did not, but I will tell him, not publicly. When we meet I'll talk to him and tell him what I liked and what I did not."

The arrival of the VAR
"It will arrive in Spain as it has arrived in other countries and we will start working with VAR. It seems that the idea is to start in the next season, we have to do some tests from here to the start of the new season; I guess it will not take long. We have enough time to correct the mistakes we're seeing in other countries, that's going to be good, and then we'll see what happens in the World Cup, it will be a good showcase to copy what works. The VAR is not going to fix the problems; it will solve the question of whether a goal has been scored or not, if the ball has been out of play or if an offence has been inside the penalty area or outside, but there are decisions of the referee himself and he will have to decide.”

Alleged persecution of Madrid
"The problem here is not that the dog bites the man, but that the man bites the dog. I have nothing against Real Madrid or any club, nothing. I do not have a box with the points that some say that are missing".

Source: Marca