Rookie referee Rubinos Pérez raced up the white stick charts this week after a double performance which brought him fifteen yellow cards and two reds. Other than a lot of bookings he didn't cause too many problems in the cup game between Murcia and Alavés. However he hit the headlines at the weekend when he upset Valencia's management after disallowing what would have been a late winner by Carew against leaders Real Sociedad, and also turning down appeals for a penalty on Rufete earlier on. Coming on the heels of the controversial decision to send off Aimar the week before against Real Madrid, club president Ortí and his spokesman were very critical of referees in general, although slow motion pictures did show that the Norwegian striker was holding on to Kvarme's shirt as he battled for the ball, and it therefore didn't seem too bad a decision. Veteran defender Carboni was more reasonable saying that it was too easy to blame referees, but that only got him into trouble with his bosses who basically told him to shut up and toe the party line.

As for the penalty decision, borderline cases are always going to be a lottery, but that's football. Espanyol were awarded one by Losantos Omar even though it appeared that Diego Mateo's tackle on Tamudo was outside of the area, whereas Málaga felt that Motta's shove on Fernando Sanz should have been given by Puentes Leira. It usually evens out in the wash, as Zaragoza's Yordi found out this week. He had accused a linesman of victimization earlier in the season after the official told him it was his fault that he wasn't given a promotion to the first division (long story), but this weekend his team were awarded two dubious penalties by the same man, including one in the last minute, which the striker himself gratefully converted. Maybe teams could take an example from third division Onda when faced with controversial refereeing decisions. Their fans threw flowers at the officials this weekend as a protest. Love and peace and all that. (14.01.03)