Vinícius Júnior received a four-match suspension that will rule him out of LaLiga’s Clásico against Barcelona, scheduled for 25 October at Camp Nou. The Disciplinary Committee of the Royal Spanish Football Federation sanctioned the Real Madrid forward for two separate actions during the match against Villarreal.
The punishment is split into two matches for pulling Nathan Saliba’s hair and two more for protesting to referee Isidro Díaz de Mera after being sent off. The disciplinary body found that the first action took place without an actual challenge for the ball and that the subsequent protests constituted a separate offense.
Real Madrid had submitted arguments in an attempt to refute the referee’s report. The club maintained that the contact with the opponent’s hair was accidental and that Vinícius had a chance to play the ball, since he became involved later in the same attacking move. It also challenged the claim that the protests warranted a separate punishment.
The Committee rejected those arguments: it determined that the footage was consistent with the referee’s account and did not establish an obvious error in the report. It also assessed the conduct after the red card separately, when the Brazilian approached the referee with an attitude the body described as aggressive and had to be restrained by his teammates.
His absence will not be limited to the match against Barcelona. The suspension also covers the league matches against Sevilla, Racing de Santander and Valencia, meaning Madrid will have to play four league matches without its Brazilian winger.
