Spanish referees agree to call off dispute action

MADRID, May 26 (Reuters) - Referees have agreed to call off a dispute action that has disrupted the disciplinary procedures of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), Spanish media reported today.

Over the past two rounds of Primera Liga matches, officials have refused to follow Federation rules that require them to detail the reasons for red and yellow card decisions.

Consequently, several players have avoided suspension for last weekend's and this weekend's matches with the competition committee saying they did not have sufficient detail to punish players in case of appeals from the clubs.

''There is a positive move for dialogue and to search for solutions in the coming seasons,'' the president of the referees' committee Victoriano Sanchez Arminio said in a letter to his members, seen by the sports daily AS.

He asked them to ''agree to the planned talks and to return to completing reports this weekend as they were before the action started, two weeks ago''.

The dispute arose because referees felt their authority was being undermined by the competition committee's system of revising decisions after appeals from clubs each week.

In particular, the committee's decision to overturn a yellow card awarded to Real Madrid's David Beckham for time wasting against Athletic Bilbao at the beginning of the month, was widely reported to be the final straw.

The decision, after an appeal by Real, meant that the midfielder avoided a suspension and was therefore able to play in the crucial league clash against Sevilla on May 6.

REUTERS BJR RN1643