Iglesias Villanueva: "Do we make mistakes? Yes, but not to be burned at the stake"

Ignacio Iglesias Villanueva has traded the whistle for local politics. The Galician official, after 34 seasons in refereeing and 176 La Liga matches, is now running for mayor of Pontedeume, the small town of around 7,500 people where he was born 51 years ago. In a wide-ranging conversation, he reflects on his abrupt departure from the CTA, the apology letter he was asked to sign and his views on the Negreira scandal and Vinicius' red card at Mestalla.

• Iglesias Villanueva is running for mayor of Pontedeume with the People's Party after leaving refereeing.
• He defends that referees make mistakes like any professional and rejects media witch hunts.
• He admits he apologized for the disallowed Cádiz goal in 2023 without really feeling it.
• His exit from VAR was not only due to the Valencia-Real Madrid match, but also to a Federation refusal to create a specialized VAR body.
• He calls the Negreira case irreparable damage to the image of Spanish refereeing.

From the refereeing bubble to local politics

The former official admits he never had an extreme interest in politics, but the proposal came after he had already left the refereeing whirlwind. The People's Party's vision for Pontedeume matched his concerns as a resident, and he highlights that the regional government is led by his party and willing to invest in the town. Asked about the qualities he can bring from his previous career, he points to managing people: "Refereeing is constantly managing players, directors and coaches. In politics you also manage people from your team and neighbors."

"If we don't defend ourselves, who is going to defend us? It's not a lobby, it's a matter of camaraderie."

Why Iglesias Villanueva left the CTA and VAR

His last night in the VOR room came in the Valencia-Real Madrid match of May 2023, when Vinicius was sent off for striking Hugo Duro. Iglesias Villanueva accepts that he did not show the prior aggression by the Valencia goalkeeper, but adds that the responsibility was shared by the entire refereeing team. "When there is a melee, you can request the images of what happened before," he recalls. What he makes clear is that his exit was not solely due to that match: a group of seven officials had proposed a specialized VAR body to the Federation and received a refusal. The arrival of Rafael Louzán as president changed the landscape, and VAR specialization became his first measure.

The apology letter after the Elche-Cádiz error

In January 2023, an Elche goal was allowed to stand despite a prior offside that neither he nor the AVAR detected from the video room. That serious error led Iglesias Villanueva to publish a letter of apology, although he confesses he did not feel it. "I was asked if it could be done in that specific case because of the impact it had. I agreed," he explains. Many fans and colleagues congratulated him for the gesture, but he told those closest to him that he did not share that feeling. He argues that in a football match the referee, the striker who misses a one-on-one and the goalkeeper who misjudges a cross all make mistakes without anyone having to apologize.

Criticism, the lobby debate and the health of Spanish refereeing

The Galician former official believes refereeing is in good health and values the CTA's work in bringing the rules closer to fans. However, he regrets that correct decisions interest nobody and that only errors become news. He also criticizes former referees turned pundits, whom he accuses of losing perspective on the decisions they made when they were active. On the idea that officials form a lobby, he responds with a question: "If we don't defend ourselves, who is going to defend us?" For him, the unity of the collective is not a meeting of private interests but a matter of camaraderie.

The Negreira case and his relationship with his brother Javi

Regarding the Negreira case, Iglesias Villanueva does not hide his discomfort. He says it is a real shame for refereeing and politics because stains are very hard to erase. He believes that surname will remain linked to Spanish refereeing forever, even if it is proven that nothing irregular happened, and that the damage is irreparable. As for his brother Javier, currently a VAR referee in La Liga, he insists that he does not act like an older brother: "I let him do his job. What we do is talk about incidents, and when I have any doubt I ask him."