Former referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz has admitted that his controversial decision in the final match of the 2013-14 La Liga season cost Barcelona the title The Valencian official incorrectly ruled out a goal by Lionel Messi in a title-deciding contest against Atletico Madrid at Camp Nou, a mistake he now concedes was wrong. In May 2014, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid faced off in a title-deciding match at a packed Camp Nou. The Blaugrana, second in the table with 86 points, needed a win to become champions, while Atleti, sitting at the top on 89 points, only required a draw. Alexis Sanchez gave Barcelona the lead, but Diego Godin’s equaliser secured a 1-1 draw and handed the title to Los Rojiblancos. However, the game’s most decisive moment came in the 64th minute when Messi found the back of the net to make it 2-1 for Barcelona, only for it to be ruled out for offside. The pass to Messi had come from Dani Alves had come off a deflection from Atletico’s Juanfran, but Mateu Lahoz and his assistant believed it was from Cesc Fabregas, and flagged it for offside. Now, over a decade later, Lahoz, now a pundit for Movistar and COPE, admitted to his error. “I was wrong. Looking back, we now know the ball came off Juanfran,” he acknowledged, as quoted by SPORT. “Barcelona and Atletico arrived at the final match level on almost everything, and that one decision changed everything. From my position, I could not tell,” Lahoz admitted. “I would have bet my twenty fingers – hands and feet – that Cesc touched the ball. The assistant took responsibility, but ultimately, it was my decision.” Barcelona never recovered from that moment, and Atletico held on for the draw and lifted their first league title in 18 years. (Source: Barca News)
Former Sevilla delegate, Cristóbal Soria, has made some controversial statements about a very famous former referee: Antonio Mateu Lahoz. "When his European refereeing career ends, due to age, the CTA and RFEF have the power to allow him through an invitation to continue for as many years as he wants" as a referee in Spain. He continues for a first year, and the following year when RFEF and the CTA have the possibility to invite him again, to continue officiating for another year", a change occurs. Cristóbal Soria reveals "as information", how "members of the CTA go from Madrid to Valencia, to his hometown, and sit with him and invite him to leave refereeing". According to Cristóbal Soria, the CTA tells Mateu Lahoz that "we can't allow you to call, among other teams, Kroos by Toni, Modric by Luka, Courtois by Thibaut...". Essentially, the CTA wanted to prevent Mateu from "calling the Madrid players among other teams by their first names" because, according to Cristóbal Soria, Mateu Lahoz called "the players of Athletic Club de Bilbao, Sevilla, and Betis" by their jersey numbers... without even bothering to read the name printed on the jersey. That "information" from Cristóbal Soria, however, doesn't only apply to the white team as the Sevilla commentator points out. Because Antonio Mateu Lahoz became known for remembering the first names of many players he refereed throughout his career... including footballers from FC Barcelona like Messi. There are many images featuring the former Valencian referee in which he can be seen calling "Leo" to the former '10' of FC Barcelona. Be that as it may, it is not the last controversy in which the now former Valencian referee appears as a protagonist. His recent criticisms of the Spanish refereeing system, speaking bluntly about the 'Negreira case', have provoked an immediate reaction from the refereeing community through a striking statement. (Source: Confidencial)
