Ronaldo banned for 5 games after pushing referee, club have 10 days to appeal

Cristiano Ronaldo lost his cool, and now Real Madrid has lost its main man for five matches at the start of the Spanish season.

Ronaldo was banned for five games on Monday after shoving a referee who sent him off for diving in Madrid’s 3-1 win over Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup.

Ronaldo was suspended for one game for the red card in Sunday’s Super Cup first leg at Barcelona, and four games for pushing referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea in the back, the Spanish football federation said.

Ronaldo will miss Wednesday’s return leg of the Super Cup in Madrid plus the first four matches of Real Madrid’s league title defense. Zinedine Zidane’s Madrid opens the league on Sunday at Deportivo La Coruna. Its next three matches after that are against Valencia, promoted Levante, and at Real Sociedad.

Ronaldo and Madrid have 10 days to appeal the federation’s ruling.

Still regaining peak fitness after an extended summer vacation, Ronaldo began the Super Cup match on the bench, and came on in the 58th minute.

He scored with a long-range strike to put Madrid 2-1 up in the 80th minute, moments after Lionel Messi had equalized for Barcelona from the penalty spot.

But Ronaldo’s goal celebration – when he took his shirt off and flexed his muscles – earned him a yellow card.

Two minutes later, he charged into the area and collided with Barcelona defender Samuel Umtiti. Ronaldo went down hoping for a penalty. Instead, referee De Burgos showed him a second yellow for diving and sent him off.

Ronaldo raised his arms in disbelief, then stepped up to De Burgos and shoved him in the back with his right hand.

The federation ruling said that Ronaldo’s shove violated article 96 of its disciplinary code, which states that “light aggressions” defined as “pulling, pushing and shaking” of a referee are punished by suspensions of between 4-12 matches.

The federation also fined Ronaldo 3,005 euros ($3,500) and Madrid 1,400 euros ($1,650) for the shove, and another 600 euros ($705) for the player and 350 euros ($412) for the club for simulating a foul.

Last season, Las Palmas forward Marko Livaja was given an additional four-match suspension for pushing a referee after he was shown a red card.

In the 2014 Spanish Super Cup, Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone was handed an eight-match suspension after he tapped the back of a linesman’s head. Simeone was suspended for four games for the tapping, two games for protesting, one game for ironically applauding the referee, and one game for remaining in the stands instead of leaving the stadium after his sending-off.

Simeone served four matches of his league suspension and the other four are pending Atletico’s future Spanish Super Cup matches.

After guiding Madrid to the Champions League and Spanish league titles last season, the suspension comes during a difficult summer for Ronaldo.

In June, a state prosecutor accused Ronaldo of defrauding Spain’s tax office of 14.7 million euros ($16.5 million). The 32-year-old star had to deny the accusations in person to an investigative judge last month.

Now he must trust his teammates to make a good start to Madrid’s defense without him. Given Marco Asensio’s great goal from distance to cap Sunday’s win over Barcelona, the 21-year-old forward could take Ronaldo’s place in the starting lineup.

Real Madrid have 10 days to appeal Cristiano Ronaldo´s five-game suspension

Real Madrid have 10 days in which to appeal after Cristiano Ronaldo was hit with a five-game suspension for pushing the referee following his dismissal during Sunday’s Supercopa de Espana meeting with Barcelona.

Forward Ronaldo, having already been cautioned for taking his shirt off after scoring in the 3-1 first-leg win at the Nou Camp, was shown a second yellow card in the 82nd minute for diving after going down under pressure from Barcelona defender Samuel Umtiti.

The Portuguese responded to his dismissal by shoving referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea in the back before making his way off the pitch.

The Spanish football federation (RFEF) has now handed the 32-year-old a five-match ban – one for the double booking and another four for pushing the official.

Ronaldo was found guilty of ‘Violation of article 96 of the Disciplinary Code’, which relates to using “mild force” against the officials, including grabbing, pushing or shaking.

The offence carries a ban of up to 12 matches, with Ronaldo being handed the minimum punishment of four games.

Ronaldo has also been fined 3,805 euros (£3,459) for the two sanctions, with Real fined 1,750 euros (£1,590).

Real and Ronaldo have 10 business days to appeal against the ruling, the RFEF added.

Ronaldo will now miss the second leg of the Supercopa against Barca at the Bernabeu on Wednesday night, as well as Real’s opening four LaLiga matches.

The reigning Spanish and European champions begin their title defence at Deportivo La Coruna on Sunday, before then taking on Valencia, Levante and Real Sociedad.

Former Manchester United forward Ronaldo – linked with a move away from Real this summer after revealing his frustration over an investigation into his tax returns in Spain – started the Supercopa fixture on the bench but was heavily involved following his introduction around the hour mark.

He restored Real’s lead with a brilliant 20-yard shot into the far top corner in the 80th minute – three minutes after Lionel Messi had levelled from the penalty spot to cancel out Gerard Pique’s own goal – and was promptly booked for celebrating by taking off his shirt.

Soon after he went to ground under a challenge by Umtiti as the pair raced into the Barcelona box. Ronaldo appealed for a penalty but instead was shown a second yellow card for diving.

An incredulous Ronaldo then pushed De Burgos Bengoetxea in the back with his right hand as the referee walked away, an incident the official described in his report as “Once the red card was shown, said player pushed me slightly in a sign of disagreement”.

Following Ronaldo’s dismissal, Real added a third goal late on through Marco Asensio to seal a 3-1 first-leg win over the Copa del Rey winners in the Spanish season’s traditional curtain-raiser.

Referee Ricardo de Burgos, right, shows a red card to Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo during the Spanish Supercup, first leg, soccer match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Aug. 13, 2017. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
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