New Head of Refereeing in Spain is announced as restructuring continues

The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) have announced the new head of the Referees Technical Committee (CTA), after the sacking of Luis Medina Cantalejo last week. The new man at the eye of the storm is Francisco Soto Balirac.

Soto leaves a career in the law to begin his new role as the President of the CTA, has been a delegate at the Galician Football Federation for the last decade. That has been a minor role alongside his legal career though, where he was working as a tax lawyer for the company Garrigues. He specialised in advising athletes and businesses on their tax affairs.

Career in refereeing for Soto

Soto has been involved as a referee for the last two decades though. He began as a referee in 2002, and rose to the Segunda B level over 13 years, Spain’s third tier. Soto retired in 2015 from active refereeing, and became a spokesperson for the Galician Referees Committee, and in 2015 became a delegate for the same organisation. He would then reprise the role in 2020 for the last five years.