The Federation charges Iglesias Villanueva after the Vinícius case: it withdraws it from the VAR

The Real spanish soccer federation and the Technical Committee of referees have made the first big decision after the racist episode suffered by Vinicius in Mestalla. Iglesias Villanueva stops being a VAR referee immediately. The referee, who was designated to referee the weekly match between Real Betis and Getafe from the VAR, will be replaced by Soto Grado. The decision comes motivated by his performance in the match between Valencia and Real Madrid at Mestalla last weekend.

Iglesias Villanueva, VAR referee of said match, had a fundamental role in all the events that took place around Vinicius. From the VAR they reviewed the tangana of the final minutes in which the Brazilian was involved and recommended to Burgos Bentoetxea go to the monitor to see the action for a possible expulsion of the Real Madrid player. The image that the referee saw on the pitch was the one sent by Iglesias Villanueva from the VAR and it was cut off. The sequence sent only referred to the Brazilian’s coup and not to the rest of the attacks that occurred.

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Iglesias Villanueva is the tip of the iceberg of the changes that the Federation and the (CTA) Technical Committee of Referees are preparing for the next season. The VAR technician in Mestalla is add another five collegiate, specialized in video arbitration, who will not continue to be in charge of their functions the following year. Both the Federation and the CTA reflect a deep discomfort with the arbitration performance of the last day from the VAR.

However, both entities support Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea’s behavior on the pitch and defend that he perfectly applied the anti-racism protocol. The fact of not refereeing the entire brawl was not his mistake, but rather a Iglesias Villanueva who has ended up costing the position. Real Madrid published in its second statement that the images sent by the VAR were biased and, once the case was investigated, the Federation and the CTA have decided to do without the Galician referee.

It may interest you: Real Madrid points to Rubiales for the Vinicius case

His mistake at Mestalla was the last, but not the first of the season. Iglesias Villanueva was also the VAR referee during the match between Cádiz and Elche played at the beginning of the year. The Elche team tied in the final stretch of the clash through an Ezequiel Ponce who was offside. Villanueva Churches he did not review the play and the illegal goal went up on the scoreboard and ended up having a direct impact on the final result.

The following day, the referee expressed his feelings through a statement. “It is simple and at the same time difficult to pronounce these words: I was wrong. I feel anger, anger, pain and annoyance with myself for the mistake made. I also feel that a ruling serves to tarnish and harshly criticize all the work carried out by the CTA. I apologize to Cádiz and its fans for my mistake. The one who has lost the most in this story has been me, but I want to make it clear that no one can question the honesty and professionalism of the Spanish referees,” said Iglesias Villanueva, who will no longer sit in the VAR room.

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