Eduardo Iturralde González, one of the most recognizable former referees in Spanish football and a regular voice in the media, has analyzed current arbitration issues in a conversation with Flashscore España.
The retired referee argues that, in the action that led to the expulsion of Dean Huijsen, the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) should have supported the field referee:
Huijsen, the VAR, and a “contradictory” message
For Iturralde, the CTA's handling of the expulsion of Huijsen involved an error in approach. “If they say that for them it is a yellow card but they understand that for the VAR it is gray, then it is also gray for the field referee”.
Under that premise, he concludes, the Committee “should have agreed with the referee” instead of suggesting that the action warranted a yellow card. The problem, he points out, is not so much the specific interpretation as “the lack of clarity in the message”.
Iturralde: “If for the VAR it is gray after seeing five replays, for the referee, who only has one, it is also gray”.
The former referee defends a clear institutional message, criticizes the direction of the body between external pressures and contradictory communicative decisions, and asks to limit the intervention of the VAR to objective matters, leaving interpretable plays to the referee's discretion.
Handballs: “The real debate is at the extremes”
Iturralde contextualizes the eternal controversy of handballs in the area: “95% of handballs do not generate problems”. In his opinion, the controversy is concentrated in borderline cases, where the rule clashes with the assessment. “If there are a thousand handballs a year, seven, eight, or ten are talked about”, he summarizes. Therefore, he also demands communicative consistency to not amplify the feeling of chaos.
Simulations and slow motion: football, a contact sport
Iturralde directs his gaze towards another focus: simulation. With the VAR, he argues, the forward seeks contact and the defender masks it, while slow motion “magnifies” slight impacts: “We forget that football is a contact sport”. The still photo, he adds, “is not useful for refereeing” because it does not measure the intensity of grabs or pushes.
When should the VAR intervene?
A supporter of the system in objective matters (goals with the hand, offside), he is more restrictive in interpretable matters. “In plays involving grabs or pushes, I would leave it only to the referee”. He rejects labels such as “less interventionist”: “The VAR should intervene when there are clear, obvious, and manifest errors”. And he emphasizes its main virtue for the referee: “It removes the fear of a very serious error”.
Pressures, CTA design, and partisan videos
Iturralde expresses his concern about the “drift” of the CTA, which in his opinion should be “a strong body, impervious to pressures” within the RFEF. He questions the presence of profiles unrelated to arbitration in designation bodies and criticizes the “battle for control” between bodies. Regarding club videos that select errors against them, he describes them as “advantageous exposure” that “indoctrinates” its audience because it does not include successes or failures in favor.
The ‘Negreira case’, distance, and discredit
The former referee defines the matter as “one of the most abominable episodes”, but defends that the then vice president of the CTA “did not have the capacity to influence international designations” nor promotions/relegations, and recalls stages with draws and with a triumvirate in the designation. He asks that the trail of the money be clarified “for the good of arbitration, the competition, and its credibility”.
Respect for the referee and the weight of the matches
For Iturralde, the credibility of the referee has always been in question due to a “cultural” issue. And he relativizes the complexity of the Clásico compared to a duel for permanence: “It is more difficult to referee relegation: it stays with you for life”. He defends dialogue with the players, but “without falling into condescension” and with a priority: that the ball is in play to reduce conflicts.
Handballs, simulation, and the “predictable” referee
The common thread of his thesis is predictability: that players and fans know in advance how actions are interpreted. Again, he asks for coherence between the criteria on the field and that of the VAR, and institutional messages without ambiguities to not erode confidence.
Key takeaways from Iturralde
- Huijsen: if the play is “gray” for the VAR, it is also gray for the referee; the CTA should have supported the field decision.
- Handballs: the real conflict is in borderline cases; most do not generate debate.
- Simulation: slow motion overemphasizes contacts; football is a contact sport.
- VAR: excellent in objective matters; in interpretable matters, the referee's criteria should prevail.
- CTA: needs institutional strength and clear messages, away from pressures.
- Negreira: demands clarification of the destination of the money to recover credibility.
Iturralde's reflections have a direct impact on the day-to-day of LaLiga and on the perception of the culé fans regarding the refereeing performance. In a course with a consolidated VAR, a protocol of intervention limited to clear errors, and recurrent controversies over handballs or tackles on the edge, the communicative consistency of the CTA seems essential to shield the competition.
Note: Statements extracted from a conversation with Flashscore España.