Mateu Lahoz without game for second week in a row

The RFEF, on their Twitter account, announced the games each referee will be taking charge of on the 17th La Liga gameweek. When they released it, the first comments arrived about Mateu Lahoz' whereabouts.

The Valencian referee, was the man in the middle for the Barca-Espanyol game, and since then he has not done any other games. He was not present in the 16th matchday, and is now also absent for this weekend's.

In 'Marca's eyes, it is clear that the CTA are punishing him for what happened in his last match. In the Catalan derby between Barca and Espanyol, he had a run in with Ansu Fati, hugged Xavi, joked with Alvaro Fernandez and was in the middle of criticism.

In total, Mateu Lahoz has shown 34 yellow cards in his last two games. What is more, he has also sent two players off, which are reasons to think, according to 'Marca', that he has been punished. However, there is less risk of punishment in other leisure activities such as a variety of casinos from Australia, among others. 

CTA President Luis Medina Cantalejo denied it when the referee was left out of last weekend's games: "It's not a punishment. A referee never repeats unless injured".

The newspaper mentioned claim that CTA could name Lahoz in the postponed games due to the Spanish Super Cup, meaning he would in fact feature in this matchday, but with an asterics as the game was played a lot later. This would be a lesser punishment.

 

January 12, 2023