Referees gagged

Leeds United manager, David O'Leary, believes refereeing in today's game has been made more difficult by those he describes as "the men at the top".

O'Leary reckons soccer's top brass are mainly to blame for the "appalling" decisions he has witnessed throughout this season, with his criticisms coming just two days after an FA meeting with the players, managers and referees' associations.

"I think a lot of the problems arise because their freedom to use common sense has been taken away. They are being put under pressure from the stands and from the directives they are forced to follow.

"In my playing days, officials were allowed to use their common sense but they're not allowed to do that now." Meanwhile, Alex Ferguson claims playing title rivals Leeds at Elland Road this month rather than at the end of the season will take much of the sting out of the potentially explosive clash.

The two fierce rivals will square up to each other on Sunday, February 20th, in a rearranged game that could have a huge bearing on the championship race.

"I remember reading that David O'Leary wanted the game nearer the end of the season," he said. "But in fairness to both sides it's better playing in the new date because of the atmosphere at these games.

"You don't want anything too serious, and with February 20th there are plenty of games left after that."

Matches in Italy will be suspended for up to 45 minutes if racist or offensive banners are displayed at stadiums.

The games will then be scrapped if the banners are not removed within that time and teams whose fans are to blame will be penalised with automatic 2-0 defeats, Italian soccer bosses said yesterday. This is in response to an Italian Interior Ministry decree ordering the suspension of matches for as long as was necessary to remove offensive banners from the crowd.

The move by the government came two days after Lazio fans held aloft a banner paying tribute to assassinated Serb warlord Arkan.