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Juanma Mallo
Friday, 7 March 2025, 17:06
The world of Spanish football has lost a referee. David García de la Loma died on Tuesday 4 March at the age of 31. He was diagnosed with synovial sarcoma in 2021, which resulted in the amputation of his right arm. After the surgery he returned to the Segunda Federación division to continue refereeing matches.
"The federation would like to express its deepest condolences to the family and friends of David García de la Loma, Segunda Federación referee who passed away after a long illness. David has been an example of a fighter, perseverance and a love for refereeing.️ His colleagues, in all categories of our football, will wear black armbands this week to honour him," the Spanish football federation announced on its social media profiles.
The Palencia-born referee was promoted to Segunda Federación, the fourth tier of Spanish football, at the end of the 2020-2021 season, but couldn't fulfil his dream due to his diagnosis and further treatment.
An old interview with the Spanish Football Federation has resurfaced as a memory of his story. "The doctors were clear: 'To conserve the area is to conserve the risk'; that's why we decided that the best thing to do was to amputate," said García de la Loma.
He went through very hard times during his journey. The support of the people around him helped him overcome the challenges: "My parents, my brother, my partner, my friends: they are the ones who have been with me all day, the ones who have come to the hospital, the ones who have slept there and who have stood behind a window for me due to Covid-19 restrictions."
In the interview, David also thanked the referees' directors for "giving him the space he needed when he didn't know how everything was going to progress".
On 10 September 2022, García de la Loma got the chance to feel like a sportsman again: the day when he stepped onto the pitch at El Cerro del Espino for the match between Atlético B and Don Benito.
The teams joined to give the referee a shirt commemorating the match and a standing ovation before he blew the whistle for the start of the game.
"I still can't believe it, but it's been done and it's been possible. Now it's time to keep improving, analyse what we've done and wait for the next appointment," he said at the time.
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