| The
last award of the year goes to a man who we have praised on other occasions in
these pages, in particular for his comportment in the Barcelona vs Real Madrid
match, when his calm attitude saved the game from degenerating into a disaster.
However he went over the top this time in the Bilbao vs Valencia game, showing
ten yellows and a red card which should never have been. True John Carew did
make a gesture to the crowd (see villains section), but it was no more than
many have done before without punishment. Either it is an offence or it is not
to do what he did, and for example in the English premier league that type of
gesture happens ten times a week. Carew had picked up his other yellow for
protesting just before half time when he thought he should have had a penalty,
and Pérez Burrull also missed a clear hand ball by Urzaiz when he laid
the ball back for Urrutia to score Bilbao's goal. Other than that it was a
reasonably quiet couple of days, with the officials minds probably more set on
what they would be doing during the short festive season break than writing
long reports and defending appeals from players and clubs. We wish them all the
best, and hope they return fit and well for the start of the new year.
(21.12.00) |
