Ortiz Arias to make history as Madrid derby referee

Miguel Angel Ortiz Arias will become the first referee from Madrid to officiate an Atletico Madrid v Real Madrid derby in La Liga when he takes charge of Sunday’s fixture.

The appointment, made by the Spanish Football Federation’s Technical Refereeing Committee, means Ortiz Arias will oversee the first major derby of the new season and marks an historic change in Spanish refereeing.

No referee from the city of Madrid has previously been selected to control a league meeting between Atletico and Real Madrid. The decision follows the Technical Refereeing Committee’s move last season to abolish the “geographical and regional distribution” principle, according to Spanish newspaper Marca.

That rule had prevented referees belonging to the same regional federation as either of the competing clubs from taking charge of their matches for many years.

Ortiz Arias had already been involved in the first precedent created by the change last season, when he refereed the match between Getafe and Rayo Vallecano. It was the first time a referee had taken charge of a fixture involving two clubs from the Madrid region.

The move was followed by referee Munuera Montero’s appointment for the Seville derby at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan.

Assigning Ortiz Arias to the capital’s biggest derby represents a further step by the Technical Refereeing Committee in applying the revised policy. It also ends a long-standing barrier in the way referees are appointed to matches in Spanish football.

Real Madrid are second in the La Liga table with 12 points from five matches, three points behind leaders Barcelona. Atletico Madrid are fifth on 10 points.