Spanish Div 2 ref does his best Scarface impression…

A former Segunda Division referee has been arrested in Spain on suspicion of masterminding a national-scale drugs trafficking operation. Eduardo Perez Izquierdo was recently arrested with eight other suspects after police uncovered a massive cocaine haul in Madrid.

Izquierdo retired in the 2002/3 season after presiding over more than 100 league matches. However, instead of spending retirement with his feet up, bashing out angry responses to fan mail, the former ref is thought to have tried his hand at cocaine distribution, setting up a network of gangs throughout the Basque Country.

El Mundo Deportivo reports:

Some of the sources close to the investigation are assuring that the referee’s role in this was to coordinate the movements of all the operations undertaken by the gang in exchange for a commission.

Beckham isn’t the only one who’s unhappy with Diego Simeone

Earlier this year, 34-year-old model Carolina Baldini confirmed that she had separated from former Lazio midfielder and current San Lorenzo manager Diego Simeone. “We have not ceased to love each other, but we could not overcome the crisis,” she told an Argentinean newspaper. The “crisis” in question may have been Simeone’s decision to cheat on his wife with a 21-year-old Argentinean lingerie model named Julieta Spina.

It’s the Argentinean equivalent of Rebecca Loos

In the UK, Diego Simeone is known mainly for getting David Beckham sent off in France 98. How ironic, then, that he and his former wife Carolina Baldini were considered the Posh and Becks of Argentina. Like Mr B and RoboSpice, they had three children, a lavish lifestyle and a tendency to get snapped in public. It all came to an end recently, however, as the River Plate manager traded in his model wife for a younger, er, model - 21-year-old Julieta Spina.