La Liga president Javier Tebas has confirmed that artificial intelligence will officially be introduced into Spanish football refereeing from next season in what could become one of the biggest technological changes in European officiating.
Tebas revealed that AI will play a direct role in referee evaluations and match assignments, insisting the system is designed to make decisions more objective and transparent after years of controversy surrounding officiating standards in Spanish football.
“We are going to implement AI in the world of refereeing,” Tebas said during a sports technology conference in Madrid, according to reports from Spanish media outlets including Marca and AS.
The La Liga chief explained that the first phase of the project will focus on referee performance reviews. Currently, officiating assessments are carried out manually by evaluators from Spain’s Technical Committee of Referees (CTA), who score referees across roughly 30 different criteria after every match.
“With AI, we’re creating a tool so that at least 40 percent is decided objectively by the AI,” Tebas stated. “The AI will review everything and tell you where it got it right. We’re making it objective.”
According to Tebas, the system is being developed using data gathered from thousands of matches, allowing algorithms to identify patterns in refereeing decisions, positioning, foul interpretation, disciplinary actions and consistency levels across competitions.
The second phase will involve referee appointments for matches. Rather than fully replacing officials responsible for appointments, AI will generate a shortlist of three referees deemed most suitable for each fixture before the final decision is made by the committee.
“With the help of AI, three referees will be proposed to the committee in charge,” Tebas explained. “I’m a big believer in human judgment, but there are things where AI has to help you.”
The announcement comes amid mounting criticism of refereeing in Spain over recent seasons, particularly following repeated complaints from Real Madrid regarding VAR decisions and officiating standards. Clubs across La Liga have increasingly demanded greater transparency in how referees are evaluated and selected.
While AI-assisted refereeing evaluation systems are already being explored in other sports, La Liga is expected to become one of the first major football leagues in Europe to integrate artificial intelligence directly into official referee assessment and assignment structures.
Tebas insisted, however, that AI would remain a support tool rather than a replacement for human referees, emphasizing that final authority would still rest with football officials and governing bodies.