As is customary at this time, the different institutions and organizations are carrying out balances on what the complicated year 2020 has meant. Referees Technical Committee of the Royal Spanish Football Federation has not been an exception and its president Carlos Velasco Carballo has reviewed these last 12 months.
“Professionalism is a dream come true”
Velasco Carballo wanted to highlight that in 2020 the referees have seen a dream come true and a goal for which they have been fighting for years, the professionalism and recognition as high-level athletes. The president thanked Luis Rubiales for his collaboration to make “the dream come true.” “The determination of our president Luis Rubiales has been vital to achieve what for all the referees in Spain was a dream that has come true in 2020, as is that The referees are truly professional, have a work contract and are recognized for what they are, athletes of the highest level and they really have all the rights that any worker in this country has. It has achieved something that many of us thought would always be a dream. “
“We have experience and level in the development of the VAR”
Looking to the future, Velasco Carballo has stated that if professionalism was the goal in 2020, in 2021 the dream will be the creation of the Arbitration Center of Excellence in the City of Soccer of Las Rozas. The president is confident that he can become a reference in referee training and took the opportunity to take advantage of the use of VAR in our country. “It is intended to create a national and international arbitration training center in Spain. We believe that we have both a level of refereeing on the field of play, as above all, experience and proven level in the development of the VAR, which together with the facilities that we have that are undoubtedly the best in the world, are all the ingredients to be a benchmark in referee training throughout the world. The dream of having that center of excellence in our country is the dream that will come true in 2021 “.
“Women's refereeing is going to be the thing that will grow the most”
How could it be otherwise, the president also had time to refer to the incipient female refereeing, which with the assistant referee Guadalupe Porras as a benchmark, it is becoming more and more important in Spanish football. “Female arbitration will undoubtedly be the one that will grow the most in arbitration in Spain in the coming years. For this we have implemented this season a new talent and mentoring program at the female level in all territories of the country, for the first time in the history of our sport. It is a very ambitious program that makes me have high hopes that without a doubt it is the best way to sow so that in in a short time we will have even better female referees in our country. “
“They will all want to follow the example of Guadalape, assistant referee who He is already in the First Division and very recently he has refereed in a Europa League match. The participation of Gaudalupe and Marta Huerta as shortlisted for the next World Cup 2023 in Australia and New Zealand. The role of women in Spanish football it is something that It is being promoted a lot from the Royal Spanish Football Federation“.
I remember the deceased
In such a difficult year marked by the pandemic, Velasco Carballo wanted to send all his support and that of the Technical Committee of Referees to the people most affected this year. “To speak of 2020 is to speak of a very difficult year for sport, but above all for Spanish society. As president of the arbitration group, the first thing that comes from my heart is to send a heartfelt hug to all the relatives of the thousands of deceased from this pandemic. “