La Liga: Ronaldo banned for five matches
Cristiano Ronaldo has been handed a five-game ban after he pushed the referee following his sending off in Sunday night’s clash against Barcelona at Camp Nou.
Ronaldo came off the bench to score a stunning goal that eased Real Madrid towards a 3-1 win against their great rivals in the first leg of their Spanish Super Cup clash, yet his joy quickly turned to despair as he was given a red card.
Ronaldo was booked for taking his shirt off to toast his goal and was then shown a red card for a second booking after he was adjudged to have dived under a challenge in the penalty box.
The Portuguese star pushed the match official who handed him the red card in an outburst of frustration, with Article 96 of the Spanish league rules and regulations says pushing an official should be punished with a ban of between four and 12 matches.
Now it has been confirmed he has been handed a five-game ban, which will ensure he misses the second leg of the Super Cup clash with Barcelona and the start of Real Madrid’s Spanish title defence.
Ronaldo may consider himself to be unfortunate to face this ban as TV replays suggested he fell over in the box rather than dived, yet his reaction was always likely to lead to an extended ban.
The Portuguese superstar will not be able to play in La Liga for Real Madrid until mid-September, but the ban will not affect his participation in Champions League games.
Source: Independent
