Munuera Montero’s business relationship with senior figures in LaLiga, VAR, UEFA and RFEF | OneFootball

The referee José Luis Munuera Montero, who was part of the controversy over the referee of the match between Osasuna and Real Madrid, would be the center of the issue because of his business relations with the upper echelons of LaLiga, VAR, UEFA and the RFEF, as revealed by the media outlet El Español. These relationships have sounded the alarm for referee independence in Spanish football.

Munuera Montero and his company at the epicenter of refereeing

Munuera Montero, the referee of the Osasuna-Real Madrid match, founded the company Talentus Sports Speakers SL, which provides consultancy and sports management services. It shares its headquarters in Córdoba with another company, Deportalia Sports SL, which is also based in a large 1,000-square-meter villa with a swimming pool and sports facilities.

Its clients include institutions such as LaLiga, UEFA, RFEF and clubs, which raises doubts about possible conflicts of interest. In addition, it is managed by Sergio Sánchez Castañer, former technical head of VAR and consultant to LaLiga and UEFA, who was also instrumental in the implementation of VAR in Spain.

But Munuera Montero’s links with the main people responsible for refereeing do not end here, as he has business dealings with Jesús Cárdenas, LaLiga match director; and with José Manuel Matías Caballero, president of the Technical Committee of Referees of Andalusia, who is the main person responsible for Andalusian referees, including Munuera Montero himself.

Business network with LaLiga, UEFA and RFEF as clients

Deportalia Sports, the company that shares its headquarters with Munuera Montero’s, has a share capital of 450,000 euros, although it has no employees or visible public activity. Despite this, its list of clients includes LaLiga, RFEF, UEFA, Liga F and Córdoba CF.

According to the Companies Register, in 2023 this company generated a turnover of 200,000 euros, although it lacks a website and does not offer customer service. On the professional social network LinkedIn, however, Deportalia presents itself as a consultancy specializing in TV regulations, TV production, refereeing and VAR. One of its services is collaboration with federations and professional leagues. The sole administrator of Deportalia, Sergio Sánchez Castañer, is considered a man of trust by the president of LaLiga, Javier Tebas: he was the technological director of VAR and was in charge of TV production for LaLiga and UEFA. His connection with Munuera Montero has given rise to all kinds of criticism, such as that stemming from the lack of transparency and the alleged risk of interference in refereeing.

Munuera Montero’s performance in Osasuna – Real Madrid, under scrutiny

The name Munuera Montero has even more resonance, if that is possible, due to his controversial performance in the match between Osasuna and Real Madrid. In one match, he rigorously sent off Jude Bellingham, the English player, due to linguistic confusion. The Englishman had said “fuck off”, but the referee interpreted it as “fuck you”, as recorded in the minutes.

Likewise, Munuera Montero did not penalize a clear penalty committed on Vinicius and, as a result of reviewing the VAR, awarded a goal to Osasuna that came after the very dubious penalty committed by Camavinga, which fueled the controversy over the impartiality of refereeing in Spain.

The public disclosure of this business network linking referees and directors of LaLiga, VAR, UEFA and RFEF has raised the alarm about the need to promote mechanisms of referee autonomy. The demands for transparency and the disassociation between business activities and sporting decisions are increasingly constitutive and paramount in a football that is more than ever under scrutiny.

The Munuera Montero case reveals that the system of trust in refereeing integrity creates clear expectations in the commercial relationships of those who run the game from the pitch and from the offices. Suspicion already weighs on future decisions, decisions to be taken within the framework of Spanish competition.