The white sticks were out in force this weekend as refereeing decisions hit the headlines again. We all thought that Megia Dávila's eleven yellow cards in the Basque derby would be the highest of the weekend, but we reckoned without Daudén Ibáñez. The White Stick award winner from three seasons ago appeared to have moderated his performances in recent months, but he proved that he shouldn't be written off just yet with thirteen yellows and two reds in the game between Atlético Madrid and Barcelona. As well as the excessive number of cards (the game wasn't that hard), he also missed an obvious penalty when Santi cleared the ball with his hand, and disallowed a goal for Atlético which most commentators believed was ok (a similar goal by Espanyol's Tamudo was allowed by our old friend Muñiz Fernández).

Daúden wasn't the only one to be criticised though this weekend. González Vázquez upset the Racing Santander fans when he sent off Diego Mateo and also disallowed two goals, the latter of which at least was not offside. They were a bit unfair though, as González had already awarded them an inexistent penalty in the first half (which was saved) and let Moratón off a red card later on. The Mateo red card was also deserved. Elsewhere, Losantos Omar should probably have insisted that Marcos Assunçao leave the field after he was treated for an injury on the pitch. He didn't, and the Betis midfielder hit a screamer of a free kick into the back of the Zaragoza net to win the match. (29.09.03)