With referees producing one of the lowest tallies of the season for red and yellow cards, all talk was about the decision by Anders Frisk to retire from the game after receiving death threats following the Barcelona v Chelsea Champions' League game. Spanish referees met this week to discuss various topics, including clarifying the regulations over handling in the area and the new throw-in rule which comes into force in July (defenders must be at least two metres away from the thrower), and Referees Technical Committee president Sánchez Arminio issued a statement supporting Frisk. Iturralde González said that he would support any proposed strike in protest at the Frisk situation and the treatment of referees in general, but Carmona Méndez, who was brought up in the Extremadura region, commented that threats and even physical violence against referees were common in Spain, and he felt that strike action would be an exaggeration.

It was a quiet weekend in Spain though, the only real problems for our men in black coming in the last game on Sunday, where Iturralde was in action again in the clash between Atlético and Valencia. The official was criticised for not giving a penalty in favour of Valencia's Mista, and for not sending off visiting defenders David Navarro and Sissoko for hard tackles. Navarro's two footed slide on Richard Nuñez left the Uruguayan forward with a gaping three inch gash above his knee (the squeamish should not watch the pictures), and Sissoko was let off a second booking for a tackle from behind on Colsa, (15.03.05)