Historical breakthrough: Ariadna Chueca will become a referee in the Spanish ACB basketball league

The Canary Islands are celebrating! Ariadna Chueca from Tenerife has been chosen to officiate in the top Spanish basketball league, ACB (Liga Endesa), next season.

The organization officially announced this, congratulating Ariadna, who is the only new referee on the list of 36 professionals. She will be only the third woman in history to referee men's basketball matches at the highest level in Spain. Previously, Yasmina Alcaraz and Esperanza María Mendoza have done so.

Ariadna Chueca, 34, who has already participated in the EuroBasket and has extensive international experience, will make her Liga Endesa debut in the 2025/2026 season. She will replace Juan Carlos García González, who officiated 872 league matches over 28 seasons. García González recently bid farewell to the ACB at the Endesa Super Cup, where he was honored for his outstanding career, as he reached the age limit for working in the competition – 55 years old.

Ariadna comes to the ACB after a short but successful refereeing career. It all started with a desire to earn extra money and turned into a true vocation. After graduating from university in 2012, Ariadna went to Gran Canaria to study. There, she enrolled in refereeing courses to "better understand the rules." What initially was just a way to gain an advantage in the game unexpectedly became the beginning of her path to becoming one of the most respected referees internationally.

Before becoming a referee, Ariadna played basketball. She lived in Cuevas Blancas and started playing basketball at Rodríguez Campos College. Then she moved to Pureza de María. But it was at Uni that she became one of the most promising players on the Tenerife youth team. As part of this team, she won the Spanish Junior Championship (2006) and even made her debut in the Women's League 2.

In 2012, after graduating from university, she continued her career in Gran Canaria, combining training with her first steps in refereeing. Two years later, she went to Finland. "I went to play professional basketball, but mainly because I wanted to learn English. There, Taru Tuukkanen (former Symel Tenerife player), whom I knew from Gran Canaria, helped me a lot. She spoke Spanish and helped me a lot. They didn't pay much money there, but I was offered to take a referee course, referee, and earn more. Since I already had some experience in Gran Canaria, I decided to do it. Eventually, I rose to the First League, and I had to choose between playing and refereeing. I decided to stop playing," she said in an interview with EL DÍA about an important stage in her career.

After eight years in Finland, Ariadna decided to return home. "We started processing the documents with the Spanish Federation, but the email never arrived... Then I went to the U17 World Cup in Malaga, still as a referee from Finland, and there I was told that I couldn't join the FEB. I had to start from the autonomous level. FIBA helped with administrative matters, and the FEB accepted me into its EBA and Women's League 2 competitions in December. Thanks to this, I started my professional career in Spain. I was so exhausted psychologically that I didn't care where to start," she explains.

From refereeing at the U17 World Cup in 2022, not knowing which league she would be refereeing in the following season, to receiving the dream call in 2024. Then her first big dream came true – refereeing at the Olympic Games. At that time, she confessed that the only thing she was missing was refereeing in the ACB. "I would find myself," she said excitedly. And now her goal is becoming a reality.