Referee Mateu Lahoz is planning to retire after being caught at the centre of another controversy surrounding his card-happy officiating.
Lahoz made headlines when Lionel Messi was among those to criticise his refereeing after he dished out a whopping 17 yellow cards in Argentina’s World Cup quarter-final win over the Netherlands last month. He was dropped from taking charge of any further matches in Qatar and was sent home to his day job in LaLiga.
But things have not calmed down upon his return to Spain, with Barcelona ’s 1-1 draw against local rivals Espanyol bringing 16 yellows and two red cards on New Year’s Eve. It could have been even more, but for Lahoz to overturn his own decision to send off Espanyol’s Leandro Cabrera after consulting VAR.
