Spain struggle to follow UEFA's new hard line

MADRID, Mar 23 (Reuters) Michel Platini is laying down the law at the start of his UEFA presidency.

With talk of the creation of a new sporting police force and demands for heavier punishments for rioting fans and miscreant players, the first offenders to feel the effect of the new get-tough policy have been the Valencia and Inter Milan players involved in the mass brawl at the end of their recent Champions League match.

Valencia defender David Navarro faces a seven-month suspension from all competitions for throwing a punch that broke Nicolas Burdisso's nose while the rest of the combatants have been given heavy bans.

If the incident had occurred in the Spanish domestic league, however, the case would have been far more difficult to resolve.

The labyrinthine disciplinary system that governs Spanish football makes it almost impossible to take a hard line with similar incidents.

Everything from the simple awarding of a yellow card by a referee to stadium closures and drug bans is subject to a complex series of appeals, provisional decisions and, on occasion, legal rulings that means that punishments are often diluted or sometimes never even served.

Understandably clubs and players take advantage of a system that is riddled with loopholes.

APPEALS DAY On most Tuesdays the Spanish Football Federation's Disciplinary Committee mulls over the yellow and red cards given the previous weekend in all professional matches, deciding which ones should stand, which ones should incur bans and which ones should be overturned.

The whole process frequently undermines decisions made by referees during matches, while clubs can then go the Appeals Committee if they disagree with the decision.

Last season, for example, David Beckham was sent off after receiving a booking for dissent and then applauding the decision ''in a sarcastic manner'' according to the referee's report.

Real appealed, the Committee agreed, judging that Beckham's clapping had been ''neither scornful nor sarcastic'', and the midfielder was free to play the next game.

Fines for anything from racist chanting to security breaches at the stadium are open to similar debate and are frequently reduced on appeal.

If the Appeals Committee rejects the plea, clubs can then go to the Spanish Committee for Sporting Discipline (CEDD) in the hope of gaining a provisional suspension which allows them to delay the implementation of punishment, a tactic often used in the hope that a player can appear in a key match and then miss a less important one.

On a number of occasions clubs and players have gone even further and taken the matter to the courts.

Former Deportivo Coruna midfielder Djalminha once tried to sue the RFEF for banning him, while Sevilla started legal action to stop defender Javi Navarro for serving a five-match ban for a reckless challenge that left Venezuela striker Juan Arango with 40 stitches and a broken cheekbone.

At the end of last month Real Betis were handed a three-match stadium closure after visiting Sevilla coach Juande Ramos was knocked unconscious by a bottle thrown from the stands.

DELAYED PUNISHMENT They still played their next home game at the Manuel Ruiz de Lopera stadium after getting permission from the CEDD to delay the punishment because of the difficulty of getting an alternative venue arranged.

Meanwhile they are appealing against the ban because they claim the incident cannot be deemed as ''very serious'' under Federation statutes and therefore the stadium should not be closed.

Betis say they are merely using the precedent set by Barcelona to justify their actions.

In November 2002, the RFEF decided that Barcelona's Nou Camp stadium should be closed for two matches after a league fixture against arch-rivals Real Madrid was held up for 12 minutes when fans showered the pitch with bottles, billiard balls, mobile phones and even a stuffed pig's head.

Barcelona appealed, the case then went through a labyrinthine legal procedure -- and nearly three years after the incident Barcelona ended up with just a 4,000-euro fine.

The Spanish government has recognised that the present system lacks credibility, but its attempt at reform has been bogged down in parliament for some six months.

Until the system changes Spain are going to struggle to emulate UEFA's get tough policy.

Reuters SAM DB0937