{"id":294962,"date":"2023-11-24T13:24:58","date_gmt":"2023-11-24T13:24:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/?p=294962"},"modified":"2023-11-24T13:24:58","modified_gmt":"2023-11-24T13:24:58","slug":"controversial-world-cup-ref-reveals-real-reason-he-retired","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/soccer\/controversial-world-cup-ref-reveals-real-reason-he-retired\/","title":{"rendered":"Controversial World Cup ref reveals REAL reason he retired"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Controversial World Cup referee who angered Lionel Messi reveals the REAL reason why he retired after 32 years&#8230; as he opens up on his &#8216;dream&#8217; to return to officiating<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><b>The referee, 46, left the pitch in tears when he officiated final game last season<\/b><\/li>\n<li><b>He claims he was &#8216;encouraged&#8217; to retire\u00a0by the Technical Committee for Referees<\/b><\/li>\n<li><strong>City-Liverpool is tough to referee&#8230; but our campaign is up and running &#8211; IAKO<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A controversial World Cup referee has revealed the real reason he was forced to retire following 32 years of officiating.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Spanish official was infamous for his bold decision-making in matches, particularly when he was in charge of Argentina&#8217;s World Cup match against the Netherlands last year.<\/p>\n<p>The 46-year-old produced a record 17 cards, which included a red for Denzel Dumfries after Argentina&#8217;s penalty-shootout victory.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Following the game,\u00a0<span>Messi led criticism against him which saw him sent home from the tournament before the semi-finals.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Now,\u00a0Mateu Lahoz has claimed he was &#8216;demoted&#8217; as a referee and &#8216;pushed&#8217; to retire by the\u00a0Technical Committee for Referees (CTA) after he was given a guard of honour in his final game in La Liga last season.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/24\/12\/78197039-12787243-image-a-10_1700829802039.jpg\" height=\"424\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Mateu Lahoz\u00a0produced 17 cards during Argentina&#8217;s World Cup match against the Netherlands<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/24\/12\/78196031-0-image-a-1_1700827545405.jpg\" height=\"438\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The number of cards, which included a red for Denzel Dumfries, was a record amount<\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p><span>&#8216;<\/span>There has been a bit of controversy, but people have to understand that I was demoted. They demoted me, that is the truth,&#8217; he told Marca.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I would have continued on the pitch. But for the CTA I was one of the worst referees last season and that is why I am not on the green.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><span>Following his World Cup controversy, Lahoz was immediately thrust back into the limelight when he dished out another 15 cards during a game between Barcelona and Espanyol.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Messi originally criticised the ref last year by saying: &#8216;<\/span>I don&#8217;t want to speak about referees because after they will sanction you. But people saw what happened.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I think Fifa must take care of this, it cannot put a referee like that for a match of such magnitude, of such importance. The referee cannot fail to be up to the task.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/24\/12\/78196027-0-image-a-2_1700827548624.jpg\" height=\"426\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>After the World Cup, Lahoz was thrust into the spotlight after giving out 15 cards in this match<\/p>\n<h3>IT&#8217;S ALL KICKING OFF!\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p><span><span>It&#8217;s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span>It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2017\/08\/02\/636x90_facebook_ad_sport.png\" width=\"636\" height=\"90\"><br \/>\nSource: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12787243\/Controversial-World-Cup-referee-angered-Lionel-Messi-reveals-REAL-reason-retired.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Controversial World Cup referee who angered Lionel Messi reveals the REAL reason why he retired after 32 years&#8230; as he<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":294961,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Controversial World Cup ref reveals REAL reason he retired - Sports Love Me<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/soccer\/controversial-world-cup-ref-reveals-real-reason-he-retired\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Controversial World Cup ref reveals REAL reason he retired - Sports Love Me\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Controversial World Cup referee who angered Lionel Messi reveals the REAL reason why he retired after 32 years&#8230; 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