Former two-time World Cup referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz, who was forced to abandon his activity on the field at the end of last season, will be the new referee commentator on Movistar+. He will do his new job in the Champions League matches with Carlos Martínez and Alvaro Benito and also, depending on his schedule, he will collaborate with some pre- and post-match analysis and will be present on programs such as El día después.
After rejecting great offers from other important media such as Cope, as well as one to referee in Saudi Arabia, Mateu Lahoz will start with this new project in his life. When Mateu Lahoz refereed his last game on the pitch last June, the only thing confirmed was that he would not continue refereeing in Spain. He was not even prepared as future VAR, since although he could have continued to be linked to refereeing in this way, Medina Cantalejo's will was not to renew his contract. Now the referee will join as a commentator with a TV channel with which he found enough confidence to open up, when he was still active, and with which he recorded an extensive documentary about his career. There was no referee commentator on Movistar+ since Joaquín Ramos Marcos left.
Mateu retired from the top of refereeing, having been part of the UEFA Elite group and the only Spanish referee present on the pitch at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Possibly the only reason that his followers and detractors agreed upon was his capacity for dialogue, which made him the protagonist of numerous news in the media. His dialogues during the matches with the players ranged from passion to comedy, always marked by a colloquial and especially close tone. Recently, Gerard Piqué, former player and president of the Kings League, publicly commented in one of his direct broadcasts that: "Mateu is unbearable, in a good way, Cristiano came up against him and he was asking him about his brother." Mateu changes roles but it will not be surprising that he maintains his naturalness, his vehemence and that, despite this decision, he does not rule out that we might see him referee abroad again.
Source: Relevo
