Real Madrid appeal rejected and Vinicius suspension upheld

The Appeals Committee of the Royal Spanish Football Federation has rejected the appeal submitted by Real Madrid, confirming the four-match suspension imposed on Brazilian player Vinicius Junior following his red card in the match against Villarreal, after all efforts to cancel or reduce the penalty were dismissed. Spanish newspaper AS reported that the forward will consequently miss upcoming La Liga fixtures against Sevilla, Barcelona, Racing Santander, and Valencia, delaying his return to competition until after the international break during the match against Celta Vigo on November 21 and 22. Meanwhile, management at the capital club intends to escalate the matter to the Administrative Sports Court to pursue the case further. Real Madrid had included multiple requests in the appeal memorandum submitted earlier, seeking to nullify the two-match suspension stemming from the expulsion or alternatively apply a different disciplinary article based on previous precedents regarding hair-pulling incidents, which would have reduced the suspension to a single match. The requests also included urging the cancellation of the two-match ban resulting from protests directed at referee Diaz de Mera, arguing a lack of justification for applying the relevant disciplinary article and requesting a caution instead, but the disciplinary body rejected all legal arguments and defenses presented. Regarding the red card itself, federation authorities emphasized the absence of any obvious material error in the on-field referee's judgment, considering the two-match suspension to be in compliance with regulations given that the incident occurred outside the scope of a direct contest for the ball. The committee concluded by noting the validity of the reasoning adopted by the Disciplinary Committee and the absence of any flaw in justification that would warrant overturning the ruling, thus maintaining the minimum penalty stipulated.