Some contentious performances this week, with referees influencing the results of at least three matches with their decisions. Most of the controversy this weekend was about disallowed goals, with Medina Cantalejo starting things off by ruling out a perfectly good strike from Real Sociedad's Kovacevic f(presumably for a non-existent offside or foul) which would have meant a point for John Toshack's side. The manager was also sent off for protesting the incident, the seventh red card that Medina has produced against them in nine matches. Real are thinking of making an official complaint having noted that he has never sent off an opposing player in all of those games.

A similar incident at the Santiago Bernabeu, where Pérez Pérez disallowed an Ilie goal in the first minute which should have gone up on the scoreboard. The rookie referee also turned down a clear appeal for a penalty by Pellegrino on Raül a few minutes later, and another by Pavón on Albelda at the end. Furthermore he failed to penalise some more than hard tackles (Hierro on Mista, Ayala on Zidane etc), with the result that the players took the matter into their own hands, the game degenerating into a brawl in the final minutes.

Daudén Ibáñez upset the Mallorca delegation at Las Palmas taking three minutes to decide whether Schurrer's goal in the last minute should stand or not. Originally he had ruled it out as Paqui was in an offside position in front of goal, but after a long discussion with his linesmen he decided it was valid. The visiting players pointed out that Daudén was happy with his first decision, and only when a hail of objects rained down on the pitch from angry fans putting his safety at risk did he change his mind. True his final ruling, plus a subsequent rigorous penalty against Mallorca, did make his passage off the pitch easier when the match finished a couple of minutes later, although most commentators felt that he got it right in the end.

All this opens up the debate as to whether the more inexperienced referees should be put in charge of the biggest matches. At the moment they are chosen completely at random by the Federation computer, a move introduced a few years ago after some clubs accused the organisation of deliberately appointing biased officials to take charge of key games. Although this is obviously paranoia from some of the more controversial club presidents (you all know who they are), it was decided for peace of mind to demonstrate that the appointments were totally above board. Nothing wrong with that in principal, but maybe they need to set up an elite group of six or eight of the top international referees to take charge of designated fixtures. A lot is at stake.

Talking of international referees, Spain's referee for the upcoming World Cup is Málaga born López Nieto, who has featured more than once on these pages. He was delighted to be selected, but his reaction was muted compared to Ecuador's Byron Moreno, who burst into tears when told he was the nominated official from his country. Uruguay's Jorge Larrionda has also been chosen, but as he is currently serving a six month ban for supposed irregularities it is not sure whether he will be able to go. If he does he will have watch out for Brazil's Jorge Paulo Oliveira, who is a policeman when he is not refereeing. Elsewhere, Daudén Ibáñez will be one of two European referees participating in the Africa Cup this month. (14.01.02)