Conversations between on-field referees and the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in Spanish football matches will be made public following a review of the system.
The discussions that take place between the officials when the on-field referee is called over to the pitchside monitor to review incidents will be made available to broadcasters on the following day.
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The move is an agreement between La Liga and the Spanish FA, and was confirmed by a jointly-released statement from the two organisations.
The project will commence during next month’s Spanish Supercopa, which is organised by the Spanish FA, with Real Madrid to play Atletico Madrid on January 10 in the first semi-final with Barcelona playing Osasuna the following day.
The Spanish Supercopa is played in Saudi Arabia, with the winners of each semi-final progressing through to the decider on January 14 in Riyadh.
Conversations across the top two divisions of Spanish football will also be included, starting with Sevilla’s home clash against Alaves on Friday January 12.
“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 statement from La Liga and the Spanish FA 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.”
La Liga governs the top two divisions of Spanish football, with the Spanish FA responsible for the Copa del Rey, Spanish Supercopa and leagues outside the top tiers.
The two organisations have frequently been at loggerheads in recent years over a number of issues, including officiating, but relations appear to have improved in recent months since Luis Rubiales exited his role as Spanish FA president.
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La Liga chief Javier Tebas frequently clashed with Rubiales, with the Spanish FA currently led by Pedro Rocha on an interim basis ahead of elections for a permanent Rubiales replacement next year.
“It’s fantastic that the conversations will be made public,” Barcelona boss Xavi said of the change.
“Referees need to be humanised. This is great news for world soccer. I am very happy. We have to help the referees.
“I am very happy. If we humanise the referees and they explain themselves and give a reason why they whistle or interpret this.”
Spanish officiating has come under increased scrutiny in recent times amid the ‘Caso Negreira’ refereeing scandal, an ongoing criminal investigation into payments made from Barcelona to companies linked to the former vice president of Spain’s refereeing committee, Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira.
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