No special treatment for Beckham

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Joe Machnik, director of officiating services for MLS, admits he has no plans to ask referees to step up their protection of Beckham, and said: "I don't think the other 11 clubs in the league would appreciate that.

"Prior to the start of the season, (Galaxy coach) Frank Yallop was invited to the referees' national training camp - one of the questions he was asked was: 'Is Beckham going to expect any special treatment?' Yallop said no. Beckham is a big boy who has played in England and Spain - he can look after himself."

The message comes after Beckham reacted angrily to some rough treatment he received in Thursday's Super Clasico match, as his Los Angeles Galaxy lost 3-0 to city rivals Chivas USA.

In first-half injury time, Chivas midfielder Jesse Marsch lunged in from behind on Beckham. The England international jumped to his feet to confront Marsch, prompting an angry tussle between several players.

Galaxy midfielder Kevin Harmse was sent off for a punch thrown at Alex Zotinca, who also drew a red card after responding with a head butt.

Marsch came away with a yellow card and later apologised to Beckham by saying the tackle was "harder than I would have liked it to have been."

It was not the first time Beckham has been on the receiving end of a rough challenge since he joined the Galaxy.

Esse Baharmast, US Soccer's director of advanced and international referee development, insists the referee's number one priority is to protect the safety of all the players, not just one or two.

"The tackle was dealt with correctly," he said. "It was clearly a reckless tackle and (Marsch got) a yellow card, which is the correct way to deal with the infringement."