Manuel Mejuto González
 | |||
| 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] Scotland's Alan Hutton was forcibly pushed over by an Italian player, who also fell as a result of the collision. Despite the linesman being mere feet away from the incident, the referee awarded Italy the free kick, much to the ire of the Scottish support.
On 26 August 2009 Gonzalez was once again embroiled in controversy regarding questionable officiating. During a Champions League game, at Emirates Stadium 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 a questionable foul by Walter Samuel on him Inter went on to win 2–1.
Honours
- Guruceta Trophy: 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04
- Silbato de Oro: 1993–94 (Segunda División B), 2003–04 (La Liga)
- Don Balón Award (Best Spanish Referee): 1996–97, 1998–99, 2002–03, 2005–06, 2007–08
References
- ↑ "Scots robbed of place in Euro 2008 by ref's howler says manager McLeish". AFP Sport. Retrieved 2007-11-18.
- ↑ McLeish anger at Italian winner, BBC Sport, 17 November 2007.
- ↑ Austria 0–1 Germany & Poland 0–1 Croatia, BBC Sport, 16 June 2008.
- ↑ Zlatan Ibrahimovic criticises Manuel Mejuto González, Dagens Nyheter 10 October 2010