Real Madrid and Barcelona will do battle in Seville on Saturday night in the Copa del Rey final, and rightly or probably wrongly, the referee will be at the centre of attention. However it is the designation of the VAR that has drawn criticism in the lead-up to the game.
Los Blancos have been in a long-running mud-slinging campaign against the officials in Spain, while Barcelona have been no stranger to publicly decrying decisions from referees in recent years too. Meanwhile Los Blancos are currently part of a committee to reform the refereeing body (Referees Technical Committee or CTA). The President, Luis Medina Cantalejo, recently announced from next season they intend to have separate referees as VAR officials, and others for on-pitch referees.
Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea will take charge of the Copa final, which is no surprise as he tends to be one of a select few to be in charge of big games. The announcement that Pablo Gonzalez Fuertes as the VAR has taken some by surprise though, with the card-happy official rarely considered for such big occasions.
Speaking on Cadena SER, former referee Eduardo Iturralde Gonzalez expressed his own bewilderment at the decision, but his rationale behind the decision has raised serious questions and no shortage of criticism. Gonzalez Fuertes is in his final season before retirement, and Iturralde asserted that he was put in charge as the CTA fear a major controversy, and as he only has a few games remaining in La Liga, and it is less of an issue if he becomes the villain of the piece, rather than ‘burning’ someone expected to take charge of future Clasicos.
Iturralde did not declare a source, and it may well just be his explanation rather than information, but having spent decades in the officiating sphere in Spain, he certainly has his finger on the pulse. With any fortune, Gonzalez Fuertes will not be mentioned after the final whistle in La Cartuja.
