For once at least there were no real refereeing controversies, with football filling the headlines rather than the performances of the men in black. The Madrid based local sports paper who every year give out the "Guruceta" award to the best referee based on a points rating system from 0 to 3 only gave one zero this week, to Esquinas Torres in the Las Palmas versus Zaragoza game. Normally there are three or four, and we don't recall ever seeing a three, but then none of our reporters have been in the country longer than fifteen years or so. Esquinas got his marks (or lack of them) based on his decision to award a penalty to Las Palmas when Jorge fell at the feet of keeper Lainez, a decision which television cameras suggested was not quite correct. Esquinas did give a second penalty later in the game which was justified when Rebosio brought down Edu Alonso.

It is not easy though for referees, who have to make a split second decision, sometimes from an unsighted position. To boot, there were three other penalty decisions which may or may not have influenced the results of their matches. Rayo Vallecano felt hard done by (again) when Losantos Omar gave a spot kick after Real Madrid's Guti went down under a challenge by Hernández, and Sevilla felt that Pérez Lasa should have let Torrado off when the ball struck his hand from point blank range. On the other hand Iturralde González gave Tenerife's Bichi Fuertes a second yellow card for what he interpreted as a dive in the area (incidentally the first player he has sent off all season). Without the advantage of an action replay it all boils down to the judgement of one man, and referees are (we believe) only human. One only has to hope that it all evens up over the long season. (08.04.02)