Iturralde González Applauds CTA's Tantrum Against Mateu Lahoz: 'I'm Proud'

One of the  most recognized and controversial refereeing analysts in the sports media of our country is Eduardo Iturralde González. The former Spanish referee made a career in the First Division until 2012 as one of the most experienced and veteran referees of the CTA. It is no wonder he has the honor of having officiated more than 1,000 matches during his extensive career as a referee both inside and outside of Spain's competitions.

Since 2016, he joined the sports team of Cadena SER to analyze and comment on refereeing controversies, a task that has only renewed his antagonism with Madridist fans. The  followers of the white team do not have good memories of Iturralde González as a referee... and now that he comments in the media, that negative dynamic continues.

Meanwhile, the referee makes it clear that he has nothing against the entity presided over by Florentino Pérez. Thus, he has decided to mediate in the latest refereeing controversy in our country sparked by the words of Mateu Lahoz. The Valencian referee, performing the same function on Cadena COPE, established a curious relationship between the 'Negreira case' scandal and the international appointments achieved by Spanish referees.

"We have always been surprised that the referees who worked with Negreira's son were the ones most called by the Referees Committee to officiate in Europe", said Mateu Lahoz. The CTA, without wasting time, issued an official statement to defend itself against the accusations of the former Valencian referee... urging him to "go to court as soon as possible to convey all that information and clarify the doubts he casts on our group".

Double Response

Iturralde González was quick to applaud this gesture by the entity presided over by Luis Medina Cantalejo. In addition to calling Mateu Lahoz's words "unworthy", he makes it clear that he is "proud to belong to this family", that of Spanish referees. At the same time, Iturralde González has made it clear that Mateu Lahoz's achievements on the Old Continent are due to "the same ones" who now appoint Spanish referees for UEFA.

"That is, did he do it also out of friendship? It's the same, it's the same system", notes Iturralde González. "It is very serious to say that those who are refereeing in Europe do so for other reasons, which is why they urge him to go to court" in the official statement.

At the same time, Iturralde González makes it clear that "the statement falls short for me". According to the former Spanish referee, Mateu Lahoz's words are very serious, making it clear that this matter "I think it calls for more than just a statement". Likewise, Iturralde makes it clear that "the refereeing group needs all the mess of the Negreira case to be clarified once and for all, for the verdict to come out and try to start from scratch".

Above all, Eduardo Iturralde González points out that "now what we don't need are wars" like the one Mateu Lahoz would have started with his statements on COPE. "I am not going to contribute to any war with my refereeing family, and reading the statement today is one of the days I am proud" to be a referee, Iturralde concludes.