The Appeals Committee of the Royal Spanish Soccer Federation (RFEF) rejected on Friday the appeal filed by Real Madrid to reduce the four-game suspension imposed on Vinícius Júnior following his direct red card in the La Liga match against Villarreal.
With this ruling, the Brazilian forward must serve the four-match suspension imposed by the Disciplinary Committee, which penalized him with two matches for pulling his opponent’s hair and another two for his behavior toward the referee after being sent off.
Referee Isidro Díaz’s match report noted that Vinícius pulled Nathan Saliba’s hair while the ball was in play, but it was not in contention between the two players. Article 130.2 of the Disciplinary Code was applied for that action. The two additional matches were imposed under Article 127 for addressing the referee in an aggressive manner.
Madrid was unable to overturn the decision
In its appeal, Real Madrid requested that the disciplinary consequences of the red card—which occurred in the 73rd minute—be set aside, arguing that there was a clear factual error in the referee’s report.
The club argued that the footage showed accidental contact between Vinícius’s hand and his opponent’s hair and headband during a scuffle that is part of the game, rather than an intentional tug. It also maintained that no risk to the opponent’s physical integrity had been demonstrated.
Regarding the sanction for his behavior following the ejection, Real Madrid questioned how it could be considered a protest when the referee did not identify any specific verbal expressions. Therefore, the club requested that the penalty for the incident with the opponent be reduced to a one-game suspension and that the two additional games be replaced with a caution.
However, the Appeals Committee rejected the club’s arguments. In its ruling, it found that the video footage clearly showed the hair-pulling and that the explanations provided by Real Madrid did not refute the referee’s account.
The committee also ruled out modifying the sanction for that incident, finding that the risk outlined in the regulations had been established and noting that the conduct occurred outside the context of a legitimate challenge for the ball.
Appeal Also Upholds Suspension for Protesting
The Committee upheld the two-game suspension for Vinícius’s conduct after receiving the red card. Although the club questioned whether a protest could be sanctioned without identifying specific words, the committee maintained that the match report described more than just a simple raising of the voice.
According to the referee’s report, the Brazilian continued to protest loudly, approached the referee’s area with an aggressive attitude, and had to be restrained by his teammates.
The appeals committee concluded that the description of these actions made it possible to determine that the conduct constituted a protest, even without specific verbal expressions. Therefore, it upheld both the four-match suspension and the additional fines of 1,300 euros for each of the infractions.
Vinícius will miss four matches
With the suspension upheld, the Real Madrid forward will sit out the upcoming La Liga matches against Sevilla, Barcelona, Racing Santander, and Valencia.
The schedule includes the match against Sevilla next Sunday, followed by the Clásico against Barcelona at Spotify Camp Nou on Sunday, October 25. Afterward, Real Madrid will visit Racing in Santander on November 1 and Valencia at Mestalla on November 7.
