Ortiz Arias: the referee who broke barriers to officiate the Madrid derby

Referee Miguel Ángel Ortiz Arias is preparing to officiate the clash between Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid, a historic appointment by the technical refereeing committee. For the first time, a referee from the capital will take charge of the city derby.

According to the Spanish newspaper "Marca", Ortiz Arias, born in Madrid in 1984, is about to embark on his seventh season in the Spanish first division. He achieved a historic milestone last season, when Fran Soto chose him to break the rule of geographical affiliation and manage the clash between Rayo Vallecano and Getafe, despite his Madrid roots.

That step served as a starting point. Prominent referees soon followed, among them the Andalusian Munuera Montero, who managed the Seville derby, and García Verdura, who officiated the Catalonia derby.

As things stand, the rule only allows a referee born in a given region to manage matches held within that region. It does not extend to matches involving teams from different regions, which are managed by a referee belonging to one of those regions.

A fan of the Spain national team

Ortiz Arias works as a physical education teacher. He was also crowned with the Guruceta award presented by "Marca", after being chosen as the best referee of the 2021-2022 season.

Away from refereeing, Miguel Ángel is passionate about football and the Spanish national team. This summer he travelled to New York as a fan, to enjoy the World Cup final in which Spain claimed their second star.

Fed up with verbal violence

Speaking to the Royal Madrid Football Federation, Ortiz Arias delivered sharp criticism of the tense atmosphere around refereeing against the backdrop of the "Negreira case".

The referee said: "I think the violence has become greater now. The spotlight has been put on us. When people always say to me: no, you... or you lot..., I say to them the following: imagine you work in a company, and that one of its executives committed things he should not have committed. Does that make you corrupt? I think the answer is no."

An amusing moment with Raphinha

An amusing incident this season also thrust Ortiz Arias into the spotlight, this time with Raphinha before the clash between Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao.

Having conducted the opening coin toss alongside Iñaki Williams, the referee turned to the Barcelona forward with a remark: "I like your moustache."

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