David López, hot during the Girona-Almería half-time, denounced that the referee Ortiz Arias had disrespected him, that it was not the first time and that all the First Division footballers knew him for this attitude. The central defender brought something from the private sphere that supposedly only professionals knew with some statements on DAZN that are unprecedented in the League.
Yesterday it also emerged that the referee had already complained about the player before the game, in the locker room tunnel. “David (López), it’s just that… He came with a ring! Damn, you have to play, eh? It’s always the same. The worst thing of all is that he teases me, that’s what annoys me the most,” he commented before going out onto the grass. Later, Ortiz Arias told one of his assistants that “now before you start you check him.” When Gazzaniga, Girona’s goal, tried to mediate, Ortiz responded angrily with “no, I’m calm. But you know you can’t carry things and on top of that he’s making fun of me.” This incident could have had something to do with the subsequent anger of David López, who saw a yellow card during the first half.
Ortiz Arias’ record is not immaculate. He is playing his third season in the First Division. Born in 1984, he began refereeing at the age of 16 in the Madrid Federation, in which he quickly rose to Second B. There he stagnated and spent ten years before promoting to Second.
The list of injured parties begins in the silver category, where he refereed 40 games. Nafti and Iriome, coach and player of Lugo, asked in the press room after a match in February 2021 that they not be disrespected further. “The refereeing has been good, but you have to be careful with the forms when speaking. There are players on the field who are fathers,” Nafti explained. “When you speak to a person with respect and they respond in a way that is not reciprocal, it gives you something to think about,” warned the Canarian player.
That season the referee managed to be promoted to First Division, where last season he was removed due to two controversial events. In the first he exceeded his forms in a Celta-Mallorca. Tino Kadewere tried to stop Fran Beltrán from serving quickly and he reprimanded him. The player ignored him and Ortiz Arias approached him in the race and gave him a clear push, something unprecedented. Mallorca complained and the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) put it in the refrigerator. He did not learn his lesson and later pushed Rubén Duarte in an Alavés-Betis game to get him away from him. That time he was left unpunished.
He was also reported by Valladolid, this time for a technical error. The Madrid native whistled for half-time moments before a shot by Escudero found its way into the Sevilla goal. That prevented the locals from taking the lead in a match that ended with a 0-3 scoreline. Those from Pucela asked for him to be disqualified. It took him four games to referee again.
Celta and Alavés had also expressed their discomfort with him before that. The people of Vigo complained about the expulsion of Renato Tapia for two yellow cards in the same action, one for “stepping on an opponent” and the second for protesting. The referee picked up complaints from the Peruvian midfielder: “What arrogance!” He told him. Tapia was suspended three games. The same thing happened to Zouhair Feddal, “expelled for putting his finger to his temple.” Ortiz Arias recorded in the minutes that the player told him: “Don’t worry, we will see each other again.”
After his complaint, David López is exposed to a sanction. The CTA has reviewed the audios of the match and assures that the disqualifications that he denounces do not exist. Girona has tried to get the player to apologize, but López remains firm and the club has decided to remain silent to protect him. At the moment, there is no complaint in Competition, although it could be filed ex officio.
