| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Manuel Enrique Mejuto González | ||
| Born | 16 April 1965 La Felguera, Spain |
||
| Other occupation | Civil servant | ||
| Domestic | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| 1987–1990 | Tercera | Referee | |
| 1990–1994 | Segunda B | Referee | |
| 1994–1995 | Segunda | Referee | |
| 1995–2010 | La Liga | Referee | |
| International | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| 1999–2010 | FIFA listed | Referee | |
Manuel Enrique Mejuto González (La Felguera, Langreo, born 16 April 1965) is a former Spanish football referee. He is known for refereeing two matches in the Euro 2004 in Portugal. He has also refereed three UEFA Cup matches and thirty-seven UEFA Champions League matches in his career, which include the 2005 Final between Liverpool and Milan.
Mejuto received extreme criticism[1] from the Scottish press following a vital Euro 2008 qualifying match between Scotland and Italy on 17 November 2007. Scotland had to win in order to qualify, but the match ended with an Italian win following the referee's decision to award Italy a dubious free kick (which they subsequently scored from) that the Scotland manager Alex McLeish described as "unbelievable".[2]
On 26 August, 2009 Gonzalez was once again embroiled in controversy regarding questionable officiating. During a Champions League game, at New Highbury between Arsenal v Glasgow Celtic, Gonzalez awarded Arsenal a penalty shot when he judged Celtic goalkeeper Boruc to have tripped an Arsenal forward. Celtic players were incensed and proven to be right when replays clearly showed that the Arsenal player had dived. This call ended any chance Celtic had of winning the tie and once again vilified Gonzalez in all of Scotland's eyes.
At the Euro 2008 finals, Mejuto dismissed the managers of both teams, Joachim Löw and Josef Hickersberger, from the touchline and into the stands at the end of the first half of the Group B match between Austria and Germany on 16 June 2008, "for what appeared to be an ongoing spat with the fourth official", according to the BBC.[3]
Mejuto was criticized by Zlatan Ibrahimović[4] for his performance in a 2010 World Cup qualification match between Sweden and Denmark on 10 October 2009, where he dismissed two Swedish goals. The second goal was dismissed in a situation where neither Mejuto or his assisting referees had viewed the situation, thus sending Sweden out of the World Cup finals. In the 2009–2010 Uefa Champions League first leg tie between Inter Milan and Chelsea Gonzalez was criticized for his decision not to award a penalty to Salomon Kalou after an questionable foul by Walter Samuel on him Inter went on to win 2–1.
| Preceded by UEFA Champions League Final 2004 Kim Milton Nielsen |
UEFA Champions League Referees Final 2005 Manuel Mejuto González |
Succeeded by UEFA Champions League Final 2006 Terje Hauge |