Crackdown on Referees: Gil Manzano Delayed Again After Barca-Sociedad Controversy
1 February 2026
The Spanish referee pays the price for his mistakes.
Spanish international referee Jesús Gil Manzano has been stood down from officiating matches for the second consecutive round due to errors in the Barcelona vs Real Sociedad clash in La Liga.
According to the Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo, the move fits within La Liga's referees’ technical committee policy led by Franco Soto, which bases sanctions on merit and withholds assignments for several rounds when standards fall short.
It’s not the first such action under the new administration; the same sanction had been applied to international official Jose Luis Munuera Montero, who was withdrawn in Round 3 after a mistake in Barcelona vs Mallorca, when a Ferran Torres goal was counted despite Raillo's head injury, ignoring concussion protocol.
What triggered the sanction
The sanction does not relate to VAR; it rests on on-field decisions, notably the failure to show a red card to Carlos Soler after a rough challenge on Pedri in the 85th minute, with a prior VAR review in the same match that adjusted an earlier call.
That match also saw a second VAR review; earlier, in the sixth minute, he was asked to review a foul by Dani Olmo on Take Kobu before Fermín López's goal was disallowed.
Humor break: If the referee can’t find the red card, maybe he left it in the VAR booth. And remember, in football as in life, sometimes the whistle screams louder than the crowd.
