Former two-time World Cup referee Armando Archundia became the new Head of the Mexican referees, replacing Arturo Brizio Carter. Archundia was presented by Yon de Luisa, president of the Mexican Football Federation, who highlighted his experience as a professional referee since 1985, First Division referee from 1991 to 2010, with a record of 591 games, being the referee with the most matches in the history of Mexican football. He was the first referee to officiate five matches at the World Cup, in Germany 2006 and South Africa 2010, also attending the Confederations Cup, Copa Libertadores and many Concacaf tournaments, becoming a FIFA Instructor upon his retirement from the field. Yon de Luisa also emphasized Archundia's off the field preparation, having a degree in Economics from the Autonomous Metropolitan University, a law degree from the University of Ecatepec and a master's degree in Business Administration and Management from the International University of La Rioja. In addition, he has work experience managing the Municipal Institute of Physical Culture and Sports in Ixtapaluca, with extraordinary public recognition, impeccable honour and proven teamwork capacity.
For his part, Armando Archundia expressed his feelings as the new President of the Referees Committee. “I am very happy, very excited to return to my home, which gave me great satisfaction and supported me in everything. I am committed to teamwork, I like refereeing, I am passionate about it. Today I feel as excited as I was 16 years ago: on 13 June 2006, I was refereeing my first World Cup match between Brazil and Croatia; today, 15 June 2022, I am starting a very important project, where we will work as a team, together with all of you for the good of football and refereeing. I feel extremely grateful today, it is one of my hopes and dreams that I had for some time, to be able to lead the Referees Committee and give back much of what the FMF and refereeing gave me”, concluded Archundia. (Source: FMF)
“My cycle is over”. Those were the words with which Arturo Brizio Carter said goodbye to the Referees Committee and he thanked Yon de Luisa, president of the Mexican Football Federation, for his support during the five years he was chairman of referees. During the time of Brizio at the head of the refereeing, VAR was introduced in Mexican football, as one of the great contributions that the former referee coordinated. Sources inside the committee assured that “Brizio was highly appreciated, he put his chest to the bullets in the face of media and managerial attacks. He was always a person who went straight to the referees and explained to them personally when they were not designated for important matches”, the source explained to ESPN Digital. (Source: ESPN)
