Medina Cantalejo: “We are going to try to sanity the use of VAR”

Luis Medina Cantalejo (Seville, 1964) has been the new head of the referees in Spain since December 1. He relieves Velasco Carballo and does so with two purposes: that there is less VAR and more football and that a woman gets to whistle in First.

How is it that you are chosen to be the chief referee?

For a referee to be president of all his teammates is a pride and an honor. It is a difficult moment because it is in the middle of the season. I know what I’ve gotten myself into. I am happy and calm. I am a person who tries not to have ups and downs. We are working to make sure that this goes well and that the teams have the best services, knowing that there will be errors, controversies and criticism. That must be assumed.

In his presentation, he gave the feeling that he wanted to take the role of the referee away to give it to the game.

I wish it was like that. If that were possible I would sign it right now. That they talk about the goals, the dribbles, the saves, the tactics and that they do not talk about refereeing. And if it is spoken, that is of the good physical condition or the good management of the party. Would be wonderful. Although I do not consider utopias either. I have simply said that it is the referee who makes the decisions. The VAR is there to help you with clear and obvious errors or actions that you do not see. We are going to try to stick a lot to that. At the risk that we can be wrong. Soccer is a contact sport. Faced with slight contacts, penalties are being called, although not many. But in this matter we have to be very rigorous. Generationally we have the best group of umpires I have ever met. They are really very good. Everyone. What you have to do is regulate the level of sanction in the field and intervention in the VAR.

From time to time they talk about offside, if we have to widen the lines, give a margin of error … What do you think?

Whoever questions that the line system is absolutely fair and honest, I already tell you that I am not going to convince him. In England it was said that by five centimeters it could not be pointed. So for how much? Eight? Eleven? Offside is if the line detects whether it is red or blue. That mechanism works perfectly. There is no debate there. Except when your team scores a goal and you see a fairer line. Well, it has touched you. But in that aspect we have improved by 1,000%.

Talk about lifting the VAR throttle and going back to the origin of the protocol. Are you afraid that with the change the criteria will be less unified?

No. The criterion is that we are going to talk about football and focus on what is really clear, although then there will be actions that do not seem so much to someone else. But football is controversial, critical, passionate and colorful. We have such good referees that they must focus on detecting serious errors from the VAR and that they do not escape them on the field. The important thing is that the field man sees it. A very clear trip, a hand, an ostensible grip, clearly and without a doubt, you have to whistle them and see them in the field. If it is not seen, whoever is in the VAR calls it and in the first image that it puts that hand or grip is seen. As simple as that. Then there will be little grappling, semi-squatting or light stomping … It’s part of the game.

It seems more of a style of arbitration of intuition than of being a strict of the rule.

I am a staunch defender of the norm. Now, its application is what is called the spirit of the norm. It is applying common sense. If it is yellow it is taken out, if there is a penalty it is awarded, if there is a hand too. The norm is what has to prevail. Now, the referee’s natural talent and common sense is what differentiates one from the other. Soccer geniuses are those with a natural talent. That cannot be bought anywhere. But the rules have to be above all else, otherwise it would be chaos.

What is your concept of hand?

When the modification was made, we all thought that there was going to be a clarification that would end the eternal controversy of the hands. A few tools have been given. Intentional hands are practically non-existent. Except for the one who tries to score or avoid it. Once they have those tools they always say that in the end it is up to the referee to interpret. There may be a clear hand that everyone sees, but the middle hand, which for one it is and for another it is not, I consider that it should be allowed to continue, unless the field referee deems it to be indicated. I have always said that if I had to implement something else it is the subsequent consequence. I can have my arm slightly apart and the ball hits me and prevents a goal. It has a consequence. Now, how many hands do we see that aesthetically they may seem to you that they are separated but that the ball was going outside or to one side of the area where there is no one to finish off. I would do that, because it would be talking about the philosophy of football. Currently you cannot that. Only what is decided at IFAB and that I will carry out to the letter. I cannot apply that consequence of the hands, but as a soccer lover I would like it to be that way.

Do you have the feeling that the footballer learns quickly how to deceive the referee?

They know what this game is about, but that’s what the referee is for. We must avoid that chaos and interpret the rules. You have to tell them that if they catch there is a penalty and a warning. But when it is grabbing clear. The forwards know that currently when there is a slight contact and the referee, in a misinterpretation, calls a penalty, the VAR is not going to intervene. But is that contact enough to whistle it? A penalty decides a match. That is what we are trying to talk about every week. And the previous team has worked it very well. I am not going to criticize a single iota of what has been done. It started from scratch and the VAR has been going on for three years. In Spain we had been a hundred years without VAR. Obviously it is complicated by its philosophy. But we are going to try to give him a bit of sanity knowing that we have great referees.

When he talks about the previous team, he refers to Velasco Carballo, his predecessor. What would you highlight from your mandate?

I’m going to go to before Velasco. We cannot forget our history. There was a person who was Victoriano Sánchez Arminio. With him it began in arbitration prehistory and at the end there was a technical direction, an endowment of means, a technology and an improvement. Then came Carlos Velasco and he has had two achievements. One is the implementation of the VAR and the other is the professionalization of arbitration. Those two links are extremely important and must be valued. There are some VAR facilities that are exemplary for everyone. Referees, coaches, players and managers from all over the world come to visit them. The VOR room did not exist before. It is fair to highlight your achievements.

But there is a decision by Velasco that does not seem to have convinced him. The creation of the specialized body of VAR. Only ex-referees and internationals can exercise VAR. Although he has dropped that he wants non-internationals to play that role again.

They asked me if it was going to be the same and I asked for time. You have to see the pros and cons. There are also requirements from part of the staff that have been left out of the VAR structure. Especially non-international attendees from Primera. But I have been with Carlos Clos and Rubinos seeing how it is planned. It is an issue where we will have to sit down and see what is best for everyone. We are giving it a spin, but I have not said that it is wrong at all. There is a tendency towards that professionalization and specialization of that figure of the VAR, but what I have said is that I want to sit down with the staff and listen to them, it does not hurt to know what they think about this.

Referees are also singled out for the little actual playing time per game.

What we have done is that in overtime there are nine or ten minutes. Between changes, injuries, VAR checks … The two-minute discounts are no longer visible. But we are very limited in being able to do something so that when there is a foul the ball is put into play. Do we pull the player up or grab him by the ear to serve? It is a mentality problem for players and everyone. But it is not the referee at all who is to blame.

He wants there to be a woman whistling in First. When?

It is difficult to evaluate in time when. It will be when it deserves it, it will not be a question of quota. Hopefully when I leave, or much earlier to enjoy it, we will have a woman like Stéphanie Frappart, who is already even in European competitions. The sooner would be the ideal. Seeing a woman whistling in First would be a dream for me.