White Stick Awards

González Vázquez got his reward for winning our "White Stick" prize last season, the referee being awarded one of the two Spanish Supercup finals. González and his colleague Mejuto both had discrete performances though in a trophy which was surrounded in controversy for other reasons, Espanyol claiming that Barcelona should be stripped of the title for fielding Puyol and Xavi in the first leg, just two days after they had pulled out of Spain's friendly against Iceland citing injuries. Under FIFA rules anyone dropping out of national squads cannot play for their clubs in the next five days, but the Spanish Federation turned down their appeal saying that their doctor had examined the two players and that they had been released from the squad as a result. Espanyol are expected to appeal to higher authorities.

La Liga is off to a flying start though, and no doubts about the refereeing decision which wins our award this week. The Basque derby was only half an hour or so old when Undiano Mallenco (to be fair to him, at the insistence of his linesman) blew his whistle and awarded a penalty to Athletic Bilbao for hands. The Real Sociedad players were furious, and TV footage soon showed why - the arm which appeared to touch the ball belonging to Athletic striker Aduriz! To add insult to injury Aduriz unashamedly converted the spot kick himself, probably the first time that a player had "won" himself a penalty in that way! Some justice was restored though when Real equalised late on. (31.08.06)

Name Games played Yellow cards Red cards Total
Pérez Burrull 1 9 1 10
Pérez Lima 1 10 0 10
Iturralde González 1 7 1 8
Delgado Ferreira 1 6 1 7
Clos Gómez 1 7 0 7
Muñiz Fernández 1 6 0 6
Undiano Mallenco 1 6 0 6
Fernández Borbolán 1 5 0 5
González Vázquez 1 5 0 5
Pino Zamorano 1 5 0 5