Anybody who saw the Federation sanctions webpage would probably say "what's going on here then?". We certainly did. "What's going on here then?", we said. We knew that there were lots of yellow cards this weekend, but only a couple of players banned. It turns out that referees were making a protest about having so many bookings overturned after appeals by bigwig lawyers taken on by big clubs (the David Beckham case recently was the last straw).

Up until now they had gone along with the Federation's instructions to give a full description of the offence in their match reports (he kicked an opponent in the goolies, he made some nasty remarks about my dear old mother etc.). But they decided to adhere strictly to FIFA guidelines, mentioning only "unsporting conduct" in all of those cases.

The disciplinary committee were nonplussed. "Er, it doesn't say anything about that in the book!", they said. So no less than 63 yellow cards and two reds were overturned, with consequences yet to be determined. The referees had made their point, but what will happen now? Don't ask us, we have no idea what's going on! (15.05.07)