The Spanish Football Federation has overhauled its refereeing structure and dismissed Medina Cantalejo and his senior management.

It was an open secret, and now that the season is over, Rafael Louzán, president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), has finally implemented it. The refereeing structure has undergone a complete overhaul, and the president of the Technical Committee of Referees, Luis Medina Cantalejo , and his entire board of directors have been dismissed in this new era.

Following the departure of Medina Cantalejo and Clos Gómez , head of VAR, they are joined by Antonio Rubinos Pérez (deputy president), Vicente Lizondo Cortés, Bernardino González Vázquez , and José Luis Lesma López (vice presidents). It represents a complete change of leadership in the name of rebuilding an organization that has been the subject of much criticism this past season.

Rafael Louzán , the general secretary of the RFEF, Álvaro de Miguel , and the general director, Manuel Lalinde , were responsible for communicating the decision to Medina and his management team, whom they thanked for the services provided in recent years.

The RFEF speaks of a "promotion and updating process" that is taking place "in various strategic areas of the institution" and frames it within the desire to "open a new era in the field of refereeing."

This new phase is being worked on in joint meetings held with professional clubs, representatives of the refereeing community, the Federation, and members of LaLiga. The goal is to create a "more modern, efficient, and adapted model to the current needs of Spanish football."

The RFEF will publicly present this new structure of the Technical Committee of Referees on July 2nd. This new team, which "will take on the challenge of continuing to advance along a path of professionalism, rigor, and closeness to all levels of football," will include a CEO to professionalize the management of the new organization and a sporting director to assist with the grading, promotion, and relegation of referees.

Obstacles

Following the suspicions raised by the Negreira case regarding the CTA and the sense of opacity surrounding referees' category changes, Louzán wanted to wipe the slate clean with this renewal of the organization for next season.

Real Madrid has been the club that has fought the hardest against the old refereeing structure. Its threat to walk away before the Copa del Rey final following criticism from the designated referees was the final straw between Real Madrid and the CTA.

However, there had already been further disagreements with the organization, and there was no unwavering support for the president appointed by Luis Rubiales four years ago. The former president of the Andalusian committee until he became the CTA's top official in 2021 had been an important member of the group's formation.