Assistant referee SUSPENDED for 'being too friendly' with Barcelona players

One of the assistant referees who officiated in El Clasico last weekend has been suspended for two weeks for being too friendly with Barcelona players.

Pau Norbert Cebrian Devis was not assigned to a game this week and will also sit out next weekend after the refereeing committee disapproved of his actions at Camp Nou.

Radio station Cadena SER said the committee mentioned in their report how close he was with some Barcelona players in the tunnel by the dressing rooms.

Real Madrid players were furious with some of the decisions made by referee Carlos Clos Gomez and his team during the game, which finished in a 1-1 draw last weekend.

They did not make an official complaint but criticised the refereeing publicly.

Decisions they were particularly unhappy about were Javier Mascherano getting away with a foul on Lucas Vazquez in the penalty area, Luis Suarez not being flagged offside for his opening goal and Cristiano Ronaldo not being given a penalty when he appeared to be pulled back.

Captain Sergio Ramos' criticism of the officials was implicit rather than explicit.

He said after the game: "The referee at Camp Nou? I could say a lot of things after watching the game back a couple of times, but it wouldn't change anything. I'm going to keep out of it because I don't want to give headlines.