Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz (; born 12 March 1977) is a Spanish association football referee who has refereed

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

matches since 2008. He is also an international referee with experience at the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers,

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

and the 2022 FIFA World Cup. He is known for his talkative and " quirky" approach to refereeing.

Biography

Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz was born in Algímia d'Alfara, a village in

Valencia Province Valencia ( ca-valencia, València) is a province of Spain, in the central part of the autonomous Valencian Community. Of the province's over 2.5 million people (2018), one-third live in the capital, Valencia, which is also the capital of the au ...

on Spain's eastern coast. He has a large family, with two brothers and three sisters. His elder brother, mother and late father influenced his decision to take up refereeing. Mateu Lahoz was a physical education teacher before becoming a football referee, his elder sister also works as a teacher, and he has said he could see himself continuing in that career when he retires from refereeing.

Career

Spain

In 2008, Mateu Lahoz began working as a referee in La Liga. Since then, he has established himself as one of the most prominent referees in Spain. He is also one of the most unpopular referees in Spain, along with

Alejandro Hernández Hernández Alejandro José Hernández Hernández (born 10 November 1982) is a Spanish professional football referee. He has been a full international for FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), mea ...

, known for allowing matches to descend into chaos by not reacting to play, and then becoming the protagonist through bizarre discussions with players and making controversial decisions. He is widely accused of being a fan of

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

, due to his decisions in matches featuring them or their rivals often benefitting Real Madrid; fans of the club argue that, while Mateu Lahoz's decisions against other teams have helped Real Madrid, he has also made controversial calls that have not helped them, and is an inconsistent referee in general. In 2012, he refereed in the

Spanish Super Cup Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

. Mateu Lahoz was the referee in 2014 Copa del Rey Final between

Real Madrid CF Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally worn ...

and Barcelona FC.

International

Since 2011, he has been a

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

listed international referee. He worked as a referee at the

in Russia, and the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar (from which he was sent home early after a particularly chaotic match). He was among 20 referees assigned to serve as a referee in the

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

tournament. He refereed a 2018 Champions League match between Manchester City and

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, during which Pep Guardiola, Manchester City's Spanish manager, addressed him on the pitch when half-time came. ''The Offside Rule'' wrote that Mateu Lahoz allowed incidents between players to flare up by not paying attention to the game, and described a disallowed goal in the match as "a catastrophic error". On 29 May 2021, Mateu Lahoz refereed the 2021 UEFA Champions League Final between Manchester City and

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. On 9 December 2022, Mateu Lahoz was the referee in the

quarter-final A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

match between the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

at the 2022 FIFA World Cup; he issued a record 17/18

yellow cards Yellow card may refer to: * Yellow card (sport), shown in many sports after a rules infraction or, by analogy, a serious warning in other areas * Yellowcard, an American alternative rock band * Yellow Card Scheme, a United Kingdom initiative conce ...

References

External links