The Refereeing Reform Commission moves towards introducing technology in Liga F

The president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), Rafael Louzán, chaired several meetings this Wednesday as part of the commission dedicated to improving Spanish refereeing, as well as taking part in the working groups focused on the reform of national competitions, following the framework for progress established on 12 March in Las Rozas.

The first meeting held was focused on women’s competitions, with representatives from all sectors of Spanish football in attendance.

As a result, referees, clubs, players, and officials have agreed to take the first steps towards introducing technology into Liga F, the top tier of women’s football in Spain, from next season.

The system initially chosen is Football Video Support (FVS), which FIFA has already used in tournaments such as last year’s U-17 Women’s World Cup in the Dominican Republic.

As such, the Spanish federation will seek FIFA’s permission and guidance to implement the system in Liga F from next season as a first step towards aligning the top men’s and women’s leagues with an equivalent VAR system in the medium term.

In a constructive working atmosphere, there was also agreement on the need to move towards eliminating geographical factors in refereeing assignments across all professional categories. This would mean that refereeing appointments would be based primarily on merit rather than referees’ geographical origin from one autonomous region or another.

This decision reflects the confidence, respect, and independence that Spanish referees should enjoy. Their organisational structure has once again been reviewed, with various international models being considered as possible alternatives to the current system.

Additionally, further meetings were held on Wednesday afternoon to discuss proposals for competition reforms aimed at increasing competitiveness and quality in both men’s and women’s football.

Among the proposed changes under review are the introduction of geographical proximity criteria for matches in the first two rounds of the Copa del Rey Mapfre, the creation of a Segunda Federación Femenina with three groups and a Tercera Federación Femenina with 18 groups, similar to the men’s Tercera Federación or the modifications to the current structure of the top  tier of national youth competitions, among other proposals.

The commission’s various working groups have scheduled their next meetings for Thursday, 10 April, in order to continue progressing with the proposals presented.