Rafael Louzán starts as president of the RFEF with a gala event with international referees
The CTA presented the FIFA 2025 badges and the Victoriano Sánchez Arminio Lifetime Achievement Award at a ceremony with 200 referees in attendance.
The new president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, Rafael Louzán Abal, decided that his first act was to be an event organised by the Technical Committee of Referees of the RFEF itself, where more than 50 Spanish international football, futsal and beach football referees were presented the ‘FIFA 2025 badge’.
The event was led by Luis Mediana Cantalejo, president of the RFEF Referees Technical Committee, and was attended by almost 200 referees of all categories. The event also saw the presentation of the ‘Victoriano Sánchez Arminio Lifetime Achievement Award’ to Manuel Diaz Vega, an international referee with more than 200 appearances officiating in the First Division and technical director of the Technical Committee of Referees for 17 years.
Rafael Louzán: ‘You are the pride of Spanish football, there was no better act to inaugurate my presidency’.
Spain is in the top 5 countries with the most international referees in the world. In football, up to 10 men and 5 women currently hold their international accreditation, with four referees in the elite category; Gil Manzano, Sánchez Martínez, Hernández Hernández and Huerta de Aza.
In futsal it has been a historic year with two referees from the same country for the first time in the final of a World Cup. This was the case of Juan José Cordero Gallardo and Alejandro Martínez Flores. In beach football it is worth mentioning the presence of Francisco de Oses Bumedien at the World Cup held in Dubai.
