| A
quiet week at last, with referees and villains either tired out after the
excesses of the last few weeks, or just looking forward to their holidays. Only
one player sent off in the ten league matches, Barcelona's Luis Enrique for
kicking Oviedo's Onopko in frustration. It was about the only thing he kicked
all night. Having no other villains to punish, the disciplinary committee threw
the book at him and suspended him for four matches, which means he will miss
the rest of the league and the cup semi-finals. Barcelona will presumably
appeal. Meanwhile Téllez was quietly going about his business, and he
picked up another yellow card to reach the next suspension threshold. The
Alavés defender can now concentrate on playing for Spain this week,
knowing that he can rest the weekend after for the eighth time this season.
None of his three closest rivals for the villains trophy made any progress,
with Niño suspended this week, Poschner gone off the boil and Arzeno not
the same man since they cancelled a yellow card a few weeks ago. Vinny Samways
only played half a game (see Zamora page for more on that interesting story),
and Baraja made a late push for the top spots with his seventeenth yellow card
of the season. Off the field of play, Barcelona's Frank De Boer looks to be in
big trouble as the counter-analysis test for the anabolic steroid Nandrolone
also proved positive, and he may well be banned for anything between six months
and two years at the next UEFA meeting on 14th June. De Boer protests his
innocence, and with Holland teammate Edgar Davis having the same problem, it
all suggests that there was something in the diet when they were on
international duty. The Spanish disciplinary committee also opened up a can of
worms by allowing Racing's claim against Las Palmas to be processed. The
Santander club are claiming the three points from their match after Baiano and
Alvaro were included in the Las Palmas line up as European nationals, and the
matter will now be fully investigated. Nothing has been proved yet regarding
their passports, but as Las Palmas changed their status later on to non-EU
players to be on the safe side, Racing feel they have a valid case. With other
players involved in the scandal in other clubs, any decision to overturn
results could lead to a nightmare scenario over the next few months, with
nobody sure where they stand in the league table as everybody sues everybody
else. A long hot summer awaits us. (28.05.01) |
