"From the VOR room they told us that the system flags an offside," Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea told Relevo, in comments translated from Spanish. That line marked something genuinely new in La Liga: referees explaining decisions on television after the final whistle. The rollout began this matchday, with the first featured slots built around Levante against Atletico Madrid at the Ciutat de Valencia and Athletic Club against Real Sociedad at San Mames.
LaLiga and the Technical Committee of Referees have been working toward this step for months, and it follows pre-match referee interviews already introduced in the 2026-27 season. The pitch is transparency, giving supporters a first-hand explanation instead of waiting for clubs and broadcasters to fill the gap themselves.
The first weekend of the new format
The debut was never going to be quiet. Reports differ on which exact interview should be treated as the first, and that is one of the small complications around the launch. Estadio Deportivo framed the initiative around the matchday schedule and flagged the Levante versus Atletico Madrid slot at the Ciutat de València, while Relevo identified Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea as the first referee to speak after a match, following Saturday's game on 31 October.
Either way, the opening weekend is clear enough in practical terms. One interview came around Levante against Atletico, and the second came after Athletic Club against Real Sociedad.
The Atletico game gave the reform an immediate live test rather than a soft launch. Atletico won 2-0 away and came into the weekend second in La Liga with 28 points from 11 matches. Levante were 18th with 10 points from 11, so the first explanation landed in a fixture carrying pressure at both ends of the table.
In the second slot, Alejandro Hernández Hernández defended a penalty decision after Athletic Club against Real Sociedad. "I arrive well, the play catches me four metres away," he told Relevo, in comments translated from Spanish. Real Sociedad went into that derby fifth with 19 points from 11 matches, while Athletic were seventh with 15 points from 10.
A limited reform, not a free-for-all
The important detail is that this has not become a league-wide open mic. Only two referees are interviewed per round, one for DAZN and one for Movistar Plus+. That keeps the access selective, which is probably sensible for a first phase, but it also limits how much transparency the policy can really claim at once.
One stadium is outside the format altogether. The Santiago Bernabeu is excluded because of Real Madrid's restrictions on television connections at the ground. So even in week one, the reform arrived with an obvious boundary.
That limited scope also helps explain why some coverage has differed on the rollout itself. When only two matches per round are used, the debate over who went first and how the schedule is presented becomes part of the story. The broader point still stands: LaLiga has crossed a line it had resisted for years by letting referees speak publicly after games.
The money behind the transparency push
LaLiga is also putting cash behind the change. The league will distribute €500,000 among Primera and Segunda referees as an audiovisual bonus tied to the broadcasts. That figure has added another layer to the reaction, because a measure sold as transparency is now also linked to a substantial payment pool.
It is fair to say that invites scrutiny. Paying referees for extra media duties is not automatically a problem, but it does make the optics harder, especially when the reform is still limited to two interviews per round and excludes one of the country's biggest stadiums.
Still, Spanish football has moved somewhere new here. Referees are now on camera after matches, explaining what they saw and what VAR relayed to them. The next round will again feature only two of those appearances, one for DAZN and one for Movistar Plus+.
FAQ
Why are LaLiga referees speaking after matches now?
LaLiga and the Technical Committee of Referees have launched post-match interviews as part of a transparency push. The idea is to let officials explain major decisions directly on television after the final whistle, rather than leaving every explanation to clubs, players and pundits.
Do LaLiga referees speak after every match?
No. The rollout is limited. Two referees are scheduled to speak per round, one for DAZN and one for Movistar Plus+. That makes this a controlled format rather than a post-match interview in every stadium after every game.
Which matches were used for the first LaLiga referee interviews?
The first weekend of the format centred on Levante against Atletico Madrid at the Ciutat de València and Athletic Club against Real Sociedad at San Mames. Reports differ on which came first, but those were the two fixtures used for the launch.
Why is the Bernabeu not part of the new referee interview format?
The Santiago Bernabeu is excluded because of Real Madrid's restrictions on television connections at the stadium. So while LaLiga has started the reform, it is not operating in every venue.
Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 3 outlets. How we work →
