Real Madrid will miss the services of their star striker Cristiano Ronaldo, in the next five matches in the Spanish league.
As predicted Sunday, the Spanish Football Federation banned Ronaldo for five matches today.
He was punished for pushing the referee after he was shown a red card against Barcelona in Real Madrid’s 3-1 Spanish Super Cup first leg victory on Sunday.
Ronaldo was sent off in bizarre fashion, collecting a yellow card for taking his shirt off during a goal celebration before being shown a second for diving.
Upset by referee Ricardo De Burgos Bengoetxea’s decision to dismiss him, Ronaldo shoved the official, which landed him in further hot water.
RFEF issued Ronaldo with a 3,005 euro ($3,543.20) fine and a four-match suspension in addition to the automatic one-game ban the player was due to serve for his red card.
Ronaldo, who struck a spectacular second goal for a dominant Madrid, will miss the Super Cup second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday and the club’s first four La Liga matches.
Having featured in the Confederations Cup for Portugal, the striker only returned to training earlier this month. He came on as a substitute in the UEFA Super Cup win over Manchester United on Aug. 8.
The RFEF says Madrid have 10 days to lodge an appeal with its appeals committee, while adding in its report that the club attempted to get the offence downgraded from a push to a minor “disregard” for the referee, ESPN reported.
The official match report sent to the RFEF from the Camp Nou included Ronaldo’s push in the “other incidents” section.
“Cristiano Ronaldo Dos Santos Aveiro — having been shown the red card, the player pushed me slightly in a sign of his disagreement,” the Basque official wrote.
The RFEF’s disciplinary code appears clear that the punishment for such behaviour, even if only “slightly violent,” is an extra suspension of four to 12 games.
“Pulling, pushing or shaking, or a general attitude towards the match officials which, even if only slightly violent, without confirming an aggressive attitude on their part, will be punished with a suspension of four to 12 games,” says the code’s article 96.
At the postmatch news conference, Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said the second yellow was “a bit too much” and hoped Ronaldo could still be cleared to play in Wednesday’s second leg.
That is no longer a possibility.