José María Ortiz de Mendíbil

José María Ortiz de Mendíbil, also known as José María Ortiz (11 August 1926 – 15 September 2015) was a Spanish referee, active from 1953 to 1973.

Mendíbil was born in Portugalete, Basque Country, Spain.

During his 18 seasons in La Liga, between 1953 and 54 and 1972 and 73, he led 241 league games. He was promoted to international status the seasons 1958 and 1959, and was in it until the end of his career.

In his retirement, he was a partner in UEFA and pioneer in Spain with the programs of TVE, where he worked for 5 years, apart from collaborating in programs Cadena SER and Tele Bilbao. He died in Algorta, Spain in September 2015.

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