MADRID (AP) — Real Madrid forward Vinícius Júnior has been banned for four league matches, including the “clasico” against Barcelona, after pulling the hair of an opponent in Saturday's 1-0 win over Villarreal.
Vinícius was shown a straight red card in the 73rd minute for having tugged hard on the hair of Villarreal’s Nathan Saliba when they were sprinting down the field, moments before the Madrid player scored a goal. The goal was also ruled out.
The Spanish soccer federation’s disciplinary committee announced the four-match suspension shortly before Madrid’s Champions League match at Roma on Wednesday.
Real Madrid was expected to appeal the suspension. Spanish media said an initial appeal had already been dismissed.
The committee said Vinícius was banned for two matches for the hair pulling and a further two matches for his subsequent aggressive protests to referee Isidro Díaz de Mera.
Vinícius screamed at Díaz de Mera while his teammates tried to calm him down as he left the field.
Díaz de Mera wrote in his match report that after being shown the red card Vinícius “protested my decision, raising his voice, toward where I was standing in an aggressive manner, and being held back by teammates.”
Vinícius will miss Sunday’s home match against Sevilla and the following week’s trip to Barcelona. He will also miss away matches at Racing Santander and Valencia.
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The Associated Press