| Another six red cards this weekend, on of whom was Molina
who we have commented on in the Zamora's section. Two of the sendings off came
at the end of the match between Celta and Numancia with a stand-in referee in
charge after López Nieto limped off. Marini had only been on the field a
minute or two when he clashed with Karpin, and although it didn't reach
fisticuffs, it enough for the young official to send them both for an early
bath (not together we presume). The disciplinary committee reduced Marini's red
to a yellow on appeal after video evidence showed that he had not touched the
Russian, only committed the initial foul. Karpin however was found guilty of
deliberately kicking his opponent and was sentenced to a three match ban. His
club will appeal. Alavés were in the wars as well this week, with Magno
leaving his side with ten men in the final of the UEFA cup after picking up a
first yellow for diving and another soon afterwards for a silly foul. Karmona
joined him near the end of extra time with a desperate lunge to cut out a
Liverpool attack, but little good it did: the winning golden own goal came
directly from the resulting free kick. Both will miss the next game they play
in Europe, which may be never as Magno may not stay and Karmona is getting on a
bit. Their chances of returning to Europe took a body blow this weekend when
they lost at home to Barcelona, and the late sending off of Contra didn't help,
with a visit to Real Madrid to come next week. To add insult to injury, Contra
made inappropriate suggestions about the referee's mother after being given a
second caution and then (accidentally as it turned out) trod on his foot. He
was banned for two games. The upcoming fixture between Mallorca and Rayo
Vallecano is threatening to become a five-a-side game after the referees'
performances at the weekend. Mallorca's Marcos picked up two yellow cards for
tripping an opponent to earn himself a sending off and a one match ban, and his
teammates Luque and Ibagaza will join him in the stands after each receiving
their fifth bookings of the season in the same game. Likewise Rayo's Helder saw
double yellow and then red, and Ballesteros and De Quintana picked up their
tenth yellows of the season (appeals against the two bookings were thrown out),
with Mauro picking up his fifth as well. Rayo's Ballesteros was also involved
in a shameful incident with Figo where the defender appeared to punch the
Portuguese star in the stomach off the ball, and he was carried off writhing in
agony. However views from another camera angle showed that it had been just a
slight push, and Figo had apparently been play-acting. No action was taken
against him as far as we know, but the disciplinary committee did deal with a
couple of outstanding issues outside of ordinary business. Four of Barcelona's
finest, including the club president and a vice-president, plus ex-manager
Serra Ferrer and Rivaldo, were fined a sum total of 800,000 Pesetas for making
improper remarks to the press that they had been robbed by the referee in their
game against Real Madrid a few weeks ago. In the second division, Compostela's
claim for the result of their game with Getafe to be overturned is being
studied, and a decision will be made this Thursday. Getafe had played for a few
minutes with four non-EU players on the field due to an oversight. Also, an
investigation was opened at Atlético Madrid's request into Sevilla's
allegations that players had been offered money to throw the game with the
Madrid side. Club president Jesús Gil claimed the accusations were
harmful to the reputation of his club, although he himself admitted verbally on
other occasions to offering illegal third party premiums to teams to win
against his direct rivals for promotion. This is currently a hot subject, as
Lleida players intimated this week that they had received ten million Pesetas
to share between them, presumably from Betis, for drawing with Atlético
at the weekend. (21.05.01) |
