On 19 July 2020, another referee from the old guard of Primera Division has retired. Sevilla-Valencia was the last match refereed by Jose Luis Gonzalez Gonzalez. Specifically, it was his 202 match in the highest category of Spanish football. He spent 10 seasons in the First Division, where he debuted in a Zaragoza-Tenerife on 29 August 2009. The only thing missing for the referee was achieving international status. In spite of that, he was one of the most important referees in Spain, where he was named the best referee of the 2014-2015 season. He is also the last Spanish referee forced to retire due to age. The regulatory modification undertaken by the CTA and approved by the RFEF means that, starting from the next season, the referees will have a professional contract with the Spanish federation that will be renewable annually and the age limit will be removed, allowing the Referees Committee (CTA) to decide who should retire.
Gonzalez Gonzalez is leaving at his best in form, after a difficult season, where, in addition to the confinement forced by Covid-19, he had to be without refereeing for a month because of an injury. Some discomfort prevented him from passing the fitness tests of last November, which, according to the CTA regulations, kept him out of refereeing until the end of December. In good physical condition, he would have been the clear favorite to whistle the December classic at the Camp Nou, as icing on his long career. His first great game afterwards was Barcelona-Atletico de Madrid, in the semi-finals of the Super Cup. Now, he will continue as VAR where, after the modification mentioned above, the limit of two seasons will be removed, allowing officials to perform these functions as long as the CTA considers appropriate. Right now only two former referees are in this situation: Alvarez Izquierdo, who is currently in his second season as VAR since he left active refereeing in June 2018, and Iglesias Villanueva, in his first season after leaving active refereeing last year. This new employment contract, to which they will also be subject, will lead to a change, allowing Gonzalez Gonzalez to join the VAR officials starting from the 2020-2021 season.
Source: Iusport
