La Liga to limit World Cup-style cooling breaks to extreme heat, says referees chief

La Liga will only introduce World Cup-style cooling breaks when temperatures exceed 32C, with Spain’s refereeing chief ruling out extended mid-match pauses as a regular feature of the competition next season.

Fran Soto, the head of the referees’ committee at the Spanish Football Federation, said on Cadena COPE’s “El Partidazo” programme that the controversial cooling pauses seen at the 2026 World Cup would not become a standard element of league fixtures.

He explained that additional stoppages for players to drink and cool down would be authorised solely when temperatures rise above 32C, a threshold he believes will rarely be reached in most league matches.

Soto stressed that this condition makes it “highly unlikely” La Liga will experience anything resembling the World Cup final, where play was interrupted for what eventually became a 28‐minute break.

With a hint of humour, he added that Spanish football would remain “more romantic”, preserving the traditional 15‐minute half-time interval without turning it into an extended mid-game break.

Concern over Spanish referees’ World Cup role

Soto also voiced strong dissatisfaction with how Spanish referees were used at the 2026 World Cup, describing their overall presence at the tournament as “very negative”.

Hernandez Hernandez was the only Spanish referee to take charge of a match at the finals, something Soto admitted caused surprise and frustration within the refereeing department. In his view, the quality of Spanish match officials does not match the limited role they were given.

He highlighted that Hernandez Hernandez, together with assistant referee Alejandro, who worked in the Brazil v Haiti match, delivered a solid performance. For Soto, this shows that the marginal use of Spanish referees was not based purely on technical or sporting criteria.

Asked whether the “Negreira case” might have influenced FIFA’s selections, Soto did not discount the possibility. However, he insisted he does not know the real reasons behind the reduced Spanish involvement.

He argued that the absence of any explanation grounded in refereeing standards or objective criteria suggests there may have been other off‐pitch considerations, insisting that Spanish officials had been “the most affected” by the Negreira affair.

Soto revealed that the referees’ committee is seeking a face‐to‐face meeting with FIFA officials to obtain formal clarification, saying he prefers direct dialogue over exchanging letters or public statements.

New in‐game rules and technology for next season

Turning to domestic matters, Soto outlined a series of law and refereeing tweaks that will come into force next season, some of which were already trialled at the World Cup.

One of the most significant changes concerns time lost to substitutions. The new guideline will require a substituted player to leave the pitch within a maximum of 10 seconds. If that limit is exceeded, the team will then have to wait an additional minute before it is allowed to make its next change.

Soto added that the protocol for handling second yellow cards is also being reviewed, although he did not go into detail on the specific procedural adjustments being considered.

Another key development is the introduction of a ball fitted with an electronic chip. This technology is designed to assist in identifying the exact moment of the pass when reviewing offside situations using semi-automated systems.

However, Soto urged caution over expectations surrounding the new ball. He underlined that while the chip will help choose the correct frame for the instant of the pass, it will not resolve every technical difficulty.

He pointed to problems last season with player‐tracking systems, mentioning a Copa del Rey tie between Atletico Madrid and Barcelona in which officials were forced to draw offside lines manually after the technology failed.

Assessment of his first year in charge

Despite his criticism of Spanish representation at the World Cup, Soto said he is satisfied with his first year as head of the referees’ committee, particularly with how the second half of last season unfolded in both the first and second tiers.

He described the promotion play-offs as a success, noting they were completed without any intervention from the video assistant referee. He also labelled the promotion of four referees from the second division to the top flight in a single season as a “historic achievement”.

Soto concluded by calling for greater mutual understanding between referees, clubs and supporters. He emphasised that refereeing is an especially demanding profession and argued that it deserves a higher level of empathy from everyone involved in the game.