Next Wednesday all of the La Liga clubs are due to meet at an extraordinary assembly, called to address a number of issues in the Spanish game, not least El Caso Negreira. High up the agenda of the assembly is refereeing.
Quite apart from the links to El Caso Negreira, there have been calls to reform the refereeing system entirely, perhaps making the Referees Committee an independent body.
There is much controversy over the number of red cards being handed out, with the La Liga total of 114 red cards in total, more than the Bundesliga, Serie A and the Premier League put together.
According to Cadena SER, Atletico Madrid will suggest that refereeing designations are not revealed until the day of the game. Currently they tend to be revealed on Thursdays, a couple of days before the games.
The reason being that often refereeing records are analysed per team in the media in Spain, thus increasing the pressure on that referee. Under this suggestion, it would protect referees from the media ahead of the game, making them less likely to be influenced.
This could be interpreted as a measure to combat Barcelona and Real Madrid pressuring referees. The big two in Spain have the largest media coverage and the most biased media coverage in Spain, allowing them to ramp up the pressure on referees, and colour the way fans view these officials, far more than other teams.
Or simply how about punishing clubs that pay millions to refs and tell the world its because of charming personality, sent to six different accounts?
Oh you wont, because fixing results keeps fans happy and paying and state wants those sweet tax dineros?
Aaah I see.