Barcelona media fume as new AI chief for refereeing body is announced

The new President of the Referees Committee (CTA) Fran Soto announced his new board for the refereeing body on Monday, and unsurprisingly, it was not without controversy. One of the key figures on the new commission is a self-declared Real Madrid fan.

Los Blancos are one of the sides that have been pushing hardest for reform in the CTA, and after Royal Spanish Football Federation President Rafael Louzan decided to remove President Luis Medina Cantalejo, Soto was appointed to the role. The media in Barcelona have not reacted well to the appointments, which hold something of a Real Madrid theme in their view.

New commission announced for CTA

Part of the restructuring of the CTA – which as a concept did have popular support from the clubs – has included the appointment of a new commission to decide how referees are designated. That will, as per Marca, include three former referees (Gregorio Bernabe Garcia, Jose Luis Lesma Lopez and Daniel Marcos Alvarez), an elected club which is Sevilla, a Spanish Player’s Association (AFE) representative which will be Alvaro Negredo, and a former coach, yet to be chosen by the RFEF.

Negredo, as well as representing Valencia, Almeria, Sevilla and Cadiz, is a former Real Madrid player, while as Cadena SER‘s referee correspondent Eduardo Iturralde Gonzalez has noted that the only person to keep their job on the board of the CTA is Yolanda Parga. She is in charge of the Liga F refereeing, but is also married to former referee and current Real Madrid matchday delegate Megia Davila.

Controversial Chema Alonso appointment

The most controversial appointment has been the addition of Chema Alonso, who is the new Chief of Innovation and Technology and AI. Alonso, 50, was a hacker in his younger days, but more recently went into cybersecurity to work for media giants Telefonica.

A number of social media posts from Alonso have emerged though, making it clear he is an avid Real Madrid fan. Phrases such as ‘I am a Madridista, Raulista and Ikerista’, ‘The referee is in blue, and Barcelona are in blue and claret, I’ll leave it at that’, and ‘More than a club… A club and two referees’ Alonso wrote on social media, alluding to Barcelona’s motto.

Lo feliz que me hizo ver a Raúl levantando esa copa. Después de pasar toda mi infancia con “Y qué, ¿el Real Madrid otra vez campeón de Europa?” Llegó @RaulGonzalez , la liga de Valdano, la 7ª, la intercontinental, la octava y otra intercontinental más. Revolución total. }:) https://t.co/PZx3dCmxck

— Chema Alonso (@chemaalonso) December 4, 2020

On top of Alonso’s words, images have also circulated of him in front of Real Madrid’s trophy cabinet. His role in the commission will be to develop the tools that AI uses to assess refereeing performances, and then recommend the ideal refereeing candidate for each game. A points system will be used to determine which referees will be promoted and relegated in La Liga and Segunda, which will be made public.