Real Madrid defender, Sergio Ramos has been handed a five match ban for abusing the referee in their 4-0 win against Celta Vigo in the Copa del Ray on Wednesday.
Sergio Ramos banned for 5 matches
Ramos, who made it to the FIFA Team of the year on Monday, was given the second yellow card in the 73rd minute for a dangerous tackle on Vigo’s Augusto Fernandez. Following this send-off he started to abuse and threaten the match referee Miguel Angel Ayza Gomez calling him a “shameless crook.”
He then took on the assistant referee in the following terms ‘Always the same. What shameless scoundrels you are’, repeating this phrase twice before finally leaving for the locker room.
The matter was reported by the referee in his post match report and as per the Spanish League’s disciplinary Code of conduct, was slapped with a four match ban for “insulting, offending or showing an offensive attitude towards the referee” by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF).
The 26 year old faces a one match ban due to the red card and therefore will not be available for a total of five games. He would miss three League games against Osasuna, Valencia and Getafe and would also not be available for both legs of the Copa del Ray quarterfinal against Valencia.
The Spanish International later tried to make amends and took to Twitter to apologise for his behaviour by saying, “I regret the incident with the ref. These are moments of tension produced by my sending off, we say things that afterwards we are sorry for.”
This is though not the first time that Ramos has been charged for such an on-field outburst, the Madrid player is a hot head and holds the club record for the most number of cautions and red cards.
The ban has increased worries for Real boss Jose Mourinho as his other first choice defender Pepe is out for a month nursing an ankle injury and full-backs Marcelo and Fabio Coentro are still on the road to recovery. Madrid is reeling at third place behind Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in the La Liga standings and Mourinho is running out of options to reinforce his defence.
Tags: Celta Vigo, Copa del Ray, Jose Mourinho, Real Madrid, Sergio Ramos, Spanish Football Federation
