There’s an old saying regarding referees that the best ones are those capable of staying almost invisible for the entire match. It means they have done their job so well and smoothly that we almost didn’t notice them on the pitch.And then, there’s Antonio Mateu Lahoz – the total opposite of those mentioned above.##NAJAVA_MECA_6923155####EDITORS_CHOICE##The 45-year-old Spanish ref is one of the most emblematic officials in the world at the moment, for all the wrong reasons. It seems he’s putting on an enormous effort to be – seen!? Yes, although it might sound odd, social networks are full of pics and footage of the fixtures he officiates every few days because he’s never keeping it low-profile.The Spaniards have known him for years for his ‘stealing the show’ from the players of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, but he came under the spotlight of the entire world when he got a chance in the UEFA Champions League and the World Cup.Can we leave Mateu Lahoz in 2022?— Aviv Levy Shoshan (@AvivLevyShoshan) December 31, 2022 Unnecessary chatting with the players, hugs, laughter, dozens of yellow cards per game, sending-offs, commotions with the gaffers, and – as the cherry on top – Lahoz enjoys being escorted by the police once the 90 or more minutes of his personal show comes to an end.Ignoring him is almost impossible since he seeks attention on every occasion and has the ability to book a player when not even the hardcore opposing fans would demand a yellow card.For instance, in only two fixtures (World Cup quarter-final Argentina-Netherlands, and La Liga tie Barcelona-Espanyol), he showed not less than a staggering 30 yellow and 3 red cards!? pic.twitter.com/QPzkEDJUo0— Hronika Prve lige (@hronikaprvelige) January 4, 2023 And to make it a complete horror, last night Lahoz managed to send off Sevilla’s boss Jorge Sampaoli after only 17 minutes in the Spanish Cup tie. Or, as one Spanish journalist rightfully noticed last night: “Mateu is on fire, episode 56”.Matheu Lahoz has sent off Sevilla coach Jorge Sampaoli 16 minutes into their Copa del Rey game against Linares Deportivo. The man is unstoppable. pic.twitter.com/T7Hl483hg8— Sam Leveridge (@samleveridge) January 4, 2023 We can agree that the time has come for those hotshots in the refs’ associations to talk to this man and make him stop because his omnipresent need to be under the spotlight has now gone a little bit too far. We’ve had enough of the bald one. And not talking about Collina, indeed.
