Referee and VAR conversations to be made public in La Liga

Conversations between Referees and Video Assistant Referees (VAR) will be made public under a new agreement between La Liga and the Spanish football federation (RFEF). After the confirmation La Liga and the Spanish FA released a joint statement.

Moreover, the discussions, which takes place after an incident has been reviewed using the pitchside monitor will be made available to broadcasters after the end of each day.

The project will begin in January during the Spanish Supercopa, organised by the RFEF in Saudi Arabia. Real Madrid will face Atletico Madrid in the first semifinal on January 10. Whereas Barcelona face on January 11.

The technology will then be implemented in La Liga from matchday 20 and on matchday 22 in the second tier.

RFEF and La Liga’s official statement

“This initiative marks a new era of collaboration and collective work between the RFEF and [refereeing body] CTA and LaLiga, with the aim of bringing greater transparency to professional football refereeing, and the competitions themselves,” the RFEF and LaLiga statement said.

“In this sense, with the broadcasting of the images and audio once each day of competition is completed [Saturday, Sunday and Monday] the fans’ experience will improve and a greater understanding of refereeing decisions will be enabled on behalf of television viewers, thus improving the competitions as a whole.

“In the next few days, the RFEF and LaLiga will publish more information and educational materials on social media to help fans and the media understand how this new dynamic will work.”

Referee and VAR conversations to be made public in Spanish football

Both, La Liga and RFEF have improved their relationship in recent months after feuding for years over numerous aspects of Spanish football governance.

Pedro Rocha, former vice president of Luis Rubiales, is currently in interim charge of the federation, ahead of elections next year.

Referees and VAR in Spain have faced frequent criticism over their decisions lately. Clubs, fans and sections of the media have also raised voice over the lack of transparency.

Moreover, Barcelona’s ongoing investigation on the Negreira case has harmed the image of Spanish football as well.